BTC slips to $117k on profit-taking; ETH eyes breakout, altcoins diverge

The impact of the US Fed rate cuts has settled in the cryptocurrency markets as the flagship currency, Bitcoin, begins to consolidate around its recent gains. Bears appear to have started booking profits, as the BTC price dropped below the crucial support at $117,138.  After weeks of strong gains, the crypto market, analysts said, is experiencing a natural pause, driven by profit-taking and a cooling of derivatives positions. However, on the institutional side, the launch of US spot XRP and Dogecoin ETFs, totaling $55 million in first-day trading, reflects growing demand for regulated crypto products.

Bitcoin faces resistance at $118,000

Bitcoin has rallied roughly 8 per cent so far this month — one of its best Septembers in many years — with the price nudging toward $117,000. At last check, Bitcoin was trading at $117,016.50, marking a 0.41 per cent decline over the past 24 hours. According to CoinMarketCap, the asset traded within a range of $116,695.89 to $117,911.79 during the session. Its daily trading volume surged to $42.47 billion, while market capitalization remained steady at $2.33 trillion, reinforcing Bitcoin’s status as the world’s largest digital asset.

 

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Bitcoin’s recent strength, Riya Sehgal, Research Analyst at Delta Exchange, said, was largely supported by retail investors, with larger whales remaining mostly inactive. This has helped maintain stability but could change if big players re-enter. "Traders are monitoring key technical levels — Bitcoin’s support at $117,000 and resistance near $118,000," said Sehgal.

 

Technical indicators, according to the CoinSwitch Markets Desk, show resistance forming around the $117,000 level, and the next meaningful resistance may lie near $120,000. Support is holding in the zone between $110,000 and $112,000. "If BTC breaks above resistance with volume, further gains are possible, but a failure could lead to a pullback toward support. On the flows front, Bitcoin spot ETFs have enjoyed strong inflows recently — around $2.3 billion over a recent week, including approximately $260–292 million on a single day."

Ethereum (ETH) faces resistance at $4,640 - $4,765

Meanwhile, Ethereum whales are holding significant unrealized profits, while staking activity has slowed after August’s record deposits. At last check, ETH was trading at $4,549.83, down 1.44 per cent, with intraday price fluctuations between $4,536.61 and $4,636.98. Trading volume reached $32.33 billion. Ethereum remains approximately 8 per cent below its recent peak of $4,953, reached on August 25, 2025.

 

Ethereum, Sehgal said, is attempting to clear the $4,640–$4,765 range to enter a new price discovery phase, all amid the backdrop of the Fed’s dovish stance and Friday’s options expiry.

Altcoins diverge: ASTER leads, meme tokens drop

Astar (ASTER) was the top gainer among the altcoins with a rally of 58 per cent. Immutable (IMX), NEAR Protocol (NEAR), Avalanche (AVAX), Bitget Token (BGB), Polkadot (DOT), Curve DAO Token (CRV), Pudgy Penguins (PENGU), Mantle (MNT), Sei (SEI), VeChain (VET), Chainlink (LINK), and Pyth Network (PYTH) were other gainers, rising up to 18 per cent.

 

Conversely, MYX Finance (MYX), MemeCore (M), Pump.fun (PUMP), SPX6900 (SPX), Bitcoin Cash (BCH), Worldcoin (WLD), Pepe (PEPE), Ethena (ENA), Aerodrome Finance (AERO), Virtuals Protocol (VIRTUAL), Hyperliquid (HYPE), Raydium (RAY), Uniswap (UNI), and OFFICIAL TRUMP (TRUMP) were the top laggards, falling up to 16 per cent.