Bitcoin price stuck near $110K, XPL bucks market downturn with 19% rally
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Bitcoin prices continued to slide under renewed macroeconomic pressure, despite dovish signals from the US Federal Reserve pointing to potential rate cuts later this year.
The flagship cryptocurrency remained locked in a narrow trading band between $110,781 and $113,537, as the market held a cautiously optimistic tone.
Across the broader market, total crypto capitalization struggled to retake the $4 trillion level but fell short.
Sentiment remained subdued, and Bitcoin bulls were unable to push past the $113.5k resistance, which was tested multiple times throughout the day.
The Crypto Fear and Greed Index fell to 34, dipping deeper into fear territory after shedding four points from the previous day.
Meanwhile, altcoin price action was mostly flat, reflecting the broader market’s lacklustre mood.
Most of the top 100 tokens were trading in the red during late Asian market hours on Wednesday.
Why is Bitcoin price stuck?
Bitcoin price failed to decisively reclaim $113.5k today as markets responded to a fresh round of geopolitical and economic tension.
Earlier this week, Channel News Asia reported that China had unveiled new countermeasures against the United States, including sanctions and investigations tied to shipping controls and export restrictions.
The move marked a sharp escalation in the trade standoff, raising fears that a full trade conflict may be brewing.
Traders were already on edge after the weekend’s massive $19 billion liquidation event which erased a large number of leveraged positions across major cryptocurrencies, triggering widespread selling pressure and forcing many investors to retreat.
Attempts to recover since then have been hesitant, with Bitcoin running into a wall just above $113.5k each time the bulls tried to make a push today.
However, there was a momentary shift in tone when Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell spoke at the National Association for Business Economics.
While acknowledging gaps in government data due to the ongoing shutdown, Powell said the Fed still has access to a steady stream of information from private and public sources.
So far, the broader outlook for jobs and inflation has remained steady.
Powell highlighted a slowdown in job gains since August, attributing the trend in part to falling immigration and lower participation in the labour force.
He also pointed out that the recent rise in goods prices was driven more by tariffs than by underlying inflation.
For that reason, Powell suggested the Fed remains on track to continue easing policy, with inflation expectations still anchored near the two percent target.
Normally, signs of rate cuts would inject fresh energy into the crypto market. But so far, that reaction has been muted.
Many institutional players still treat Bitcoin and other digital assets as speculative growth investments.
When interest rates fall, money tends to flow into these assets. But when macro risk rises, investors often stay cautious, waiting for volatility to settle.
The stock market has responded more positively. Major indexes saw mild gains following Powell’s remarks, while the dollar slipped against other major currencies.
That pullback in the dollar, driven by renewed expectations for rate cuts, would typically boost demand for assets like Bitcoin.
This time, the move into Bitcoin has not followed through.
Traders are still watching for signs of stability after the liquidation wave, and the risk from escalating trade friction has made many reluctant to take on new positions.
Will Bitcoin price go up?
On the 24-hour liquidation heatmap, Bitcoin price appears trapped in a tight zone with significant liquidation clusters both above and below its current range.
The most intense concentration of liquidation leverage sits just below the $114,000 mark, with visible bands of heat stretching into the $113,500 to $114,500 area.
These upper bands have acted as repeated rejection zones throughout the day, as attempts to climb higher have been consistently met with selling pressure.
The chart also shows a heavy concentration of open interest and forced exits between $110,800 and $111,200, indicating that this range is serving as a key area of short-term support.
Each time price has moved into this lower band, the heatmap suggests forced short liquidations are triggering temporary bounces, which has kept Bitcoin from slipping deeper for now.
If price does manage to clear the $113,500 ceiling with strong volume, a quick push through to $114,800 is possible as those shorts get squeezed out in rapid succession.
On the downside, if Bitcoin breaks below $110,800 with momentum, the next visible cluster of liquidity sits closer to the $109,000 mark.
Among market analysts, signs of concern were starting to show.
According to well-followed analyst Ted Pillows, the $102,000 is the key level to watch.
“$BTC long-term structure is still looking good,” as long the BTC manages to hold above the $102,000 support level.
“If BTC closes a monthly candle below the $102,000 support level, I would be concerned,” Pillows warned.
At press time, that would mean a more than 8% drop.
However many analysts were hoping for a deeper correction first before the rally could continue with momentum. See below:
Similarly fellow analysts Zoe expected a visit to downside support levels as low as $94k.
When writing, the general consensus was Bitcoin must first break past the $113.5k resistance level and subsequently establish the $114,000 level as support before any sustainable upside can take shape.
Until then, the market is likely to remain range-bound.
Bitcoin was holding just above $110,000 as of last check, down roughly 1% in the past 24 hours.
Top altcoin gainers
The altcoin market cap initially rose by 5% to $1.72 trillion before settling at $1.67 trillion as of press time.
Ethereum (ETH), the leading altcoin by market share, jumped about 5% on the day to break past $4,100.
However, it ran into resistance near $4,200 and later gave back most of those gains, managing to cling to just a 1% rise by the session’s end.
Other major altcoins painted a similarly dull picture. Solana (SOL) and Tron (TRX) managed to post gains of around 1–2%, while BNB (BNB) and Chainlink (LINK) edged lower by nearly 1%.
Most of the remaining top 99 altcoins followed a similar trend, with price movements largely contained within single digits as traders remained cautious amid the broader market uncertainty.
Plasma (XPL) was the only altcoin among them to post double-digit gains, rising nearly 20% over the day, with Morpho (MORPHO) and Ethena (ENA) following with modest gains of around 6.6% and 4.5%, respectively.
Plasma (XPL) price rebounded today, driven by a mix of technical and fundamental factors.
First, the token broke above the upper trendline of a descending triangle, which is a bearish reversal pattern, backed by a wave of buying from whales.
Further, news of a new partnership with Thailand-based exchange Bitkub supported the momentum.
For Morpho, gains stemmed froma partnership with stablecoin-powered blockchain Stable.
No particular catalyst could be identified for ENA at press time.
The post Bitcoin price stuck near $110K, XPL bucks market downturn with 19% rally appeared first on Invezz
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