Bitcoin’s Rally Stalls Near $116,000
Bitcoin was inching its way back up over the past few days—until it wasn’t. Just as it approached the $116,000 mark, the price took a hit, dropping a few thousand dollars in a matter of hours. It’s one of those moments where you wonder if this is just a temporary dip or something more.
Most altcoins followed suit, slipping into the red. TON and ENA saw some of the sharper declines, while Litecoin, oddly enough, went the other way with an 8.5% jump. Markets never move in a straight line, do they?
What’s Weighing on Bitcoin?
For most of last week, Bitcoin was stuck in a tight range, barely budging. Then came Wednesday evening, when the Federal Reserve announced—no surprise here—that interest rates would stay unchanged for the fifth time in a row. That seemed to be the trigger for a slide from $119,000 to under $116,500.
There was a brief recovery on Thursday, but the momentum didn’t last. By the weekend, BTC had broken through its usual trading range and dipped to $112,000—the lowest it’s been in three weeks. The good news? Buyers stepped in before it could test the psychologically important $110,000 level.
Since then, Bitcoin clawed its way back to around $115,600 yesterday. But the rally fizzled out, and now it’s hovering near $114,000. Market cap’s down to $2.27 trillion, and Bitcoin’s dominance over altcoins has slipped below 60% again. Not a disaster, but not exactly bullish either.
Altcoins Follow—Except for Litecoin
Most altcoins mirrored Bitcoin’s drop. TON and ENA took the hardest hits, both down double digits. XLM, HBAR, and XMR weren’t far behind. Even bigger names like ADA, BNB, and XRP saw minor losses. Ethereum, Solana, and TRX eked out tiny gains, but nothing to write home about.
Then there’s Litecoin. While everything else struggled, LTC shot up 8.5%, pushing it past $120. And MNT? It stole the show with a 20% surge, nearing $0.90. Sometimes the underdogs have their day.
All this back-and-forth has shaved about $40 billion off the total crypto market cap, now sitting at $3.8 trillion. Not catastrophic, but enough to remind everyone that crypto still moves on a knife’s edge.
For now, traders are probably watching to see if Bitcoin can hold above $112,000. If it doesn’t, things could get messy. Then again, they usually do.
