By Omkar Godbole (All times ET unless indicated otherwise)

Bitcoin (BTC) has retraced to roughly where it was before Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell’s dovish remarks on Friday, which briefly sparked a rally in U.S. stocks and cryptocurrencies.

The reversal in BTC price has paused ether’s rally and triggered losses across the broader altcoin market. The CoinDesk 20 (CD 20) Index is down 3% on a 24-hour basis, while the broader CoinDesk 80 (CD 80) index has fallen 3.74% as of writing.

Alex Kuptsikevich, senior analyst at FxPro, noted that liquidity appears to be shifting from bitcoin into altcoins. “Bitcoin is trading at $112,000, having fallen to a low of $110,000—its weakest level since early July. Friday’s surge attracted fresh sellers, pushing BTC below its 50-day moving average. So far, liquidity seems to be migrating from BTC to Ethereum and other altcoins like Solana. However, we cannot rule out that this is a precursor, with Bitcoin potentially starting a ‘sell-on-rise’ phase that may soon extend to altcoins,” Kuptsikevich said in an email.

Adding to the narrative, blockchain analytics firm Lookonchain reported that a prominent bitcoin whale, who received 100,000 BTC a long while ago, began diversifying into ether over the weekend.

Singapore-based QCP Capital chimed in with a longer-term perspective, stating, “Near term, BTC appears to be ceding momentum to ETH, but our structural outlook on Bitcoin remains optimistic. Similar to July’s absorption of roughly 80,000 BTC of legacy supply, we expect institutions to continue buying dips selectively.”

Highlighting institutional interest in dip buying, Tokyo-listed Metaplanet announced the acquisition of an additional 103 BTC, raising its holdings to 18,991 BTC. These developments come on the heels of Japan’s Finance Minister endorsing regulated crypto assets as a legitimate diversification tool within broader portfolios.

On the derivatives front, the price swings since Friday have sparked notable activity. Hyperliquid, an on-chain perpetual futures platform, announced hitting a new 24-hour all-time high spot volume of $3.4 billion, driven largely by rises in BTC and ETH deposits.

The exchange now ranks as the second largest venue for spot BTC trading across centralized and decentralized exchanges, with $1.5 billion in 24-hour BTC volume alone. This surge reflects the growing traction of specialized blockchain-based trading ecosystems.

Meanwhile, in traditional markets, the U.S. Dollar Index (DXY) edged up 0.22% to 97.94 following a near 1% decline on Friday. Gold prices remained flat, while European stocks and S&P 500 futures traded lower, indicating a measured degree of investor risk aversion. Stay alert!