Bitcoin Falls to $79,300 as Altcoins Give Back Weekend Gains
Bitcoin keeps getting stuck below $81,400 as the derivatives market turns more cautious. Altcoins like Kaspa and Bittensor gave back some of their weekend gains.
Key Takeaways
- Bitcoin is trading around $79,300 and fell 1.3% since midnight UTC, after a weekend without breaking above $81,400.
- Altcoins gave back some of their weekend gains; Kaspa stayed strong, while Jupiter fell 9% and NEAR Protocol lost 1.5%.
- Caution is rising in the derivatives market, with lower open interest, falling funding rates, and popular put positions around $78,000 and $80,000.
Bitcoin is trading around $79,300 (€68,200) on Monday and is down 1.3% since midnight UTC. The price stayed stuck in a narrow range all weekend and failed to break above $81,400 (€70,000). At the same time, Nasdaq 100 futures rose 0.3%, which made the split between crypto and U.S. stocks visible again on a day when the U.S. market is closed for Labor Day.
Altcoins Give Back Gains
Most of the action this weekend came from altcoins, but some of those gains have now faded. Bittensor, Kaspa, Internet Computer, and Celestia all rose more than 12% over the past 24 hours, although most of that move already happened before midnight UTC. Since then, TAO is only up 0.4%, Chainlink is up 1%, and NEAR Protocol has fallen 1.5%.
The bigger names showed a mixed picture too. XRP futures showed signs of cooling off, while the price is still moving choppily between $1.35 (€1.16) and $1.45 (€1.25), according to the market. Jupiter was one of the day’s biggest losers, dropping 9% without a clear reason. Kaspa stayed notably strong with a 12.75% gain over 24 hours and 24.8% over the past week, although that happened on relatively modest volume.
Futures Turn More Cautious
The tone in the derivatives market has clearly turned more cautious. The taker buy-sell volume ratio is now leaning to the short side, with 51.6% bearish flow. That marks a shift from Friday, when the market was still more upbeat. The combination of rising tensions between the U.S. and Iran and worries about Federal Reserve rate hikes seems to be playing a role, although market data suggests those concerns may be overstated.
Bitcoin futures are losing strength as well. Open interest has dropped to 670,000 BTC, the lowest level since March 23, and annual funding rates are quickly approaching zero. That points to less leverage in the market and a less aggressive long bias than earlier this month. A similar pattern is visible in Ether and Solana too.
Quiet Market, Sharp Differences
For European crypto readers, the main thing to note is that the market right now is not being driven by one big catalyst, but by a mix of fading leverage, shifting sentiment, and selective rotation between tokens. Bitcoin and Ether’s 30-day implied volatility remains close to recent lows, which fits a period where traders expect smaller swings. At the same time, the options market shows that traders are still hedging, with puts around $78,000 (€67,100) and $80,000 (€68,800) as popular Bitcoin bets for the September 25 expiration. That fits the picture in Bitcoin Holds $79,000 as Fed Odds Rise, where the coin was also stuck around this level while the market priced in higher rate expectations.
