Bitcoin Holds Near $111K as Altcoins Lead Market Momentum

Bitcoin Flat at $111K as Altcoins Stretch Their Lead

Roughly $250 million in derivatives positions were wiped out in the past day, even though price volatility stayed relatively subdued.

Bitcoin (BTC) continues to trade in a narrow band near $111,000, marking a 2.9% decline over the past month. Its market dominance has slipped from 61% to 57%, underscoring growing momentum in altcoins.

Ethereum (ETH) has gained 1.1% since midnight UTC and is up 21% over 30 days, while Solana (SOL) added 0.43% overnight and is up 27.5% on the month. The CoinDesk 20 Index advanced 0.46% intraday and 1.7% on the day, with all members posting gains.

Nick Forster, founder of Derive.xyz, said ETH has a 44% probability of reaching $6,000 by end-2025 as institutional demand accelerates. “ETF holdings of ETH jumped by 250,000 last week, from 6.5 million to 6.74 million,” Forster noted.

Derivatives Market Positioning

Open interest across perpetual contracts has climbed to $114 billion, according to Laevitas.
Binance liquidation data shows BTC trapped between a $90M cluster at $112,200 and a $76.6M cluster at $110,000.
Deribit options activity remains elevated, with 26.4K contracts traded in 24h. Calls made up 51.6% of flows, led by a $108K put (Sept. 26 expiry) and a $114K call (same expiry).
Funding rates are broadly positive across assets, signaling bullish bias, except for TRX, which carries a -10.2% APR.

Altcoins Press Ahead

Bitcoin’s dominance has fallen to 58%, down from above 61% a month ago, reflecting a clear shift in trader positioning.

BTC: down 2.9% in 30 days.
ETH: up 21% in 30 days.
SOL: up 27.5% in 30 days.

The divergence has been driven by corporate treasuries adding altcoins and a wider market recalibration after BTC’s surge to $124,000 last month. In past cycles, BTC’s dominance has fallen as low as 39%, suggesting altcoins could have more room to run. Analysts also highlight several tokens as technically oversold versus BTC, raising the odds of continued relative strength in the sector.