Bitcoin's share of the cryptocurrency market rose to nearly 60% on October 8 as major altcoins like Ether, XRP, Solana, Dogecoin, and Zcash dropped more sharply than Bitcoin. According to latest reports, Bitcoin traded near $81,100 despite a 2.8% decline, while altcoins fell between 5.5% and 14%. The rise in Bitcoin dominance reflects altcoins losing value faster rather than Bitcoin gaining market share. Over $1 billion in liquidations occurred, with Ether alone accounting for $333 million in liquidations. This shift reverses earlier trends when altcoins had stronger weekly gains reducing Bitcoin's market share to 56.5%. As per AMBCrypto analysis, the Altcoin Season Index has hit an overheated zone, with on-chain analyst Joao Wedson noting that ASI indicator peaks tend to coincide with liquidity rotation back to Bitcoin and stablecoins.
The cryptocurrency market experienced unprecedented selling pressure with $820.84 million in leveraged positions liquidated over 24 hours across 10 exchanges, according to CoinGlass data. 170,649 traders were affected, with longs accounting for $689.11 million, or 84% of the total, as the market faced significant pressure. Bitcoin led with $194.28 million in liquidations, with 73.8% from longs, followed by Ethereum at $183.55 million. The largest single wipeout was a $9.65 million BTCUSDT long on Binance, closed at about $81,773, with Binance accounting for 50.6% of all liquidations. Altcoins took heavier damage: Ethereum trades at $2,528, down 6.3% over the past week, while XRP sits at $1.37, down 2.25% in 24 hours. The pressure has since flipped, with shorts making up $66.39 million of the $73.37 million liquidated in the last four hours, suggesting part of Bitcoin's bounce came from a short squeeze rather than fresh buying.
U.S. spot Bitcoin ETFs saw about $679 million in net outflows between October 5 and October 9, with the worst day on October 7 when 5,670 BTC left the funds. Another $65.40 million flowed out on October 12, all of it from BlackRock's IBIT. Outflows point to softer demand for the products, though they don't mean every holder is selling Bitcoin directly. The sell-off came against a weak macro backdrop, with oil trading near $93.50 a barrel and August CPI coming in at 3.4% year over year. Polymarket traders expect the Fed to hold rates in October, but still see a 76% chance of a hike in December, with higher Treasury yields making non-yielding assets like Bitcoin less attractive.
Bitcoin dropped to around $81,000 on Monday, October 12, before recovering to $83,635. The dip held above support at $80,660, with a daily close below that level exposing $74,340 as the next major support. On the upside, $84,000 is the first hurdle, and $87,145 is the key resistance that rejected Bitcoin twice in late September. Reclaiming it would be the first real sign of recovery. Trading volume jumped 92% to $30.52 billion during the recent bounce. However, a large liquidation total only shows how much leverage has already been cleared, not how much remains, so it is not a reliable sign that the market has bottomed. The next tests come with the U.S. Consumer Price Index (CPI) on Wednesday, October 14, and the Producer Price Index (PPI) on Thursday, October 15. Softer inflation data could give BTC USD room to push back toward $87,145, while a hotter print could strengthen the case for tighter policy and trigger fresh liquidations below $80,660.
