Bitcoin crossed the $115,000 mark on Monday as traders grew confident that the Federal Reserve would cut interest rates this week. The leading cryptocurrency gained over 4% in 24 hours and reached $115,200 while Ethereum rose to $4,160.
The market rebound came after weeks of uncertainty driven by macroeconomic tensions.
Investors are now looking to Wednesday’s Fed meeting for confirmation of a quarter-point rate cut.
Ethereum and Altcoins React to Renewed Optimism
Ethereum followed Bitcoin’s lead this week, after bouncing back to trade near $4,160. The recovery put ETH back into a positive range after testing $3,900 earlier this month.
Older altcoins like Zcash (ZEC), Bitcoin Cash (BCH) and Dash (DASH) also gained. ZEC rose to $365, BCH reached $562 and DASH climbed nearly 10% to $51. These tokens, which have been in the market since before 2018 benefited from freshtrading activity.
The crypto market has turned relatively green lately | source: CoinMarketCap
Meanwhile, newer projects struggled to hold investor interest. Plasma (XPL) dropped to $0.36 after losing most of its early excitement while Aster (ASTER) fell 43% in a month to trade around $1.07.
Analysts attributed the decline to weak trading volume and questions about on-chain activity.
Bitcoin Surges Past $115K as Market Sentiment Improves
Market sentiment turned noticeably more positive over the weekend. The Crypto Fear & Greed Index climbed out of the “fear” zone for the first time since mid-October. The index now sits at 51 and is showing a neutral outlook.
The crypto fear and greed index has turned away from fear | source: CoinMarketCap
The trend comes after a sharp recovery in Bitcoin’s price after a major sell-off earlier this month, triggered by US-China trade tensions. That event caused $19 billion in leveraged positions to be liquidated and pushed sentiment to its lowest point this year.
According to data from Glassnode, the recent improvement is tied to a drop in aggressive selling. Spot and futures Cumulative Volume Delta (CVD) metrics have flattened. This is an encouraging sign that selling pressure is subsiding.
Funding rates across major exchanges are currently below 0.01%. This is a sign that traders are not over-leveraging their long positions. Glassnode noted that funding rates even turned negative several times recently.
In other words, investors are still cautious despite the rally.
Bltcoin Performance Shows a Divided Market
While Bitcoin’s dominance rose to 59.1%, several altcoins lagged. The rise in Bitcoin’s share of total crypto market cap indicates that investors prefer the relative safety of BTC during uncertain times.
ZEC, BCH and DASH outperformed due to smaller supply and renewed market attention. However, newer tokens like Plasma and Aster continued to lose value.
Plasma’s trading volume has collapsed from $3.3 billion at launch to less than $300 million. Aster, which positioned itself as a decentralised derivatives competitor to Hyperliquid, saw its hype fade after issues about trading data accuracy emerged.
Macro Environment Supports Crypto Recovery
Market analysts believe the macro backdrop favours crypto assets in the short term. Data from CME Group’s FedWatch tool shows a 96.7% chance that the Federal Reserve will cut rates by 0.25% this week.
Lower rates generally make risk assets more attractive, including Bitcoin and Ethereum. A cut would also reduce yields on traditional savings instruments, pushing some investors toward digital assets for better returns.
If confirmed, this move could extend the current rally into November.
