Bitcoin recovers above $120k, altcoins market up with PUMP, LDO leading gains

With risk sentiment returning to the market amid supportive macro developments and buying demand, Bitcoin rallied to a four-week high of $122,227 on Monday, while most altcoins also turned green.

Investor confidence had significantly improved over the past week, as evidenced by the crypto fear and greed index reading, which had recovered back above 70, after dipping to a low of 54 on August 6

However, it remains lower than the late-week reading of 74, which was triggered after US President Donald Trump signed an executive order that allowed cryptocurrencies to be included in 401 (k) retirement accounts.

As such, it is evident that some of the rally had lost some momentum over the weekend, when there’s typically a lot of profit taking among short-term traders.

That said, the sentiment seems to be strengthening today, especially as the total crypto market was able to surpass the $4 trillion mark for the second time this year to hit an all-time high of $4.07 trillion.

Bitcoin’s recovery also helped fuel notable gains across the altcoin sector, with Ethereum leading the charge.

Why is Bitcoin going up?

Bitcoin hit an intraday high of $122,227 before cooling off and retesting the $120k support level during late Asian trading, as bulls tried to flip this key resistance zone into a new support area.

Bitcoin’s latest surge may be attributed to the fact that most traders have adjusted to the economic environment shaped by President Donald Trump’s tariffs

What initially caused uncertainty now appears to be part of the “new normal,” allowing investors to refocus on growth opportunities rather than policy shocks.

Investors’ sentiment was also buoyed by the latest US earnings season, which delivered stronger-than-expected results across the board.

Data from Factset, 90% of S&P 500 companies that have reported earnings growth came in at 11.8% — more than double the expected 5%.

Many companies also reported strong revenue numbers, which in turn have propelled major US stock indices to record highs, lifting overall market sentiment and spilling over into risk assets like Bitcoin.

The market is also factoring in higher chances of a rate cut, especially since the US nonfarm payrolls data released earlier in the month came in weak, while the unemployment rate jumped 4.2%.

Moreover, a number of key officials from the agency have hinted over the past few weeks that the central bank could be compelled to cut rates in the upcoming September session.

For risk markets like Bitcoin and the broader sector, that’s viewed as highly bullish.

CME’s FedWatch tool was flashing an 88% percent chance that the Fed will cut rates.

Against this backdrop, spot exchange-traded funds for Bitcoin and Ethereum have been drawing in a lot of liquidity, while many companies have started adding Bitcoin, Ethereum, and some other select altcoins to their treasuries.

All of this has added to a growing sense of maturity in the crypto market and is helping drive sustained demand across the sector.

What’s next for Bitcoin?

For Bitcoin to continue its rally, bulls need to establish the $120,000 psychological resistance level as support.

When referring to Bitcoin’s 12-hour liquidation heatmap, it is evident that the $120,000 zone has not yet been firmly established as a support area

Although Bitcoin briefly traded above this level, the liquidity profile shows only a moderate cluster of liquidations below it, meaning a deeper sweep toward $118,500–$119,000 could still occur before buyers fully defend the level.

On the upside, the largest concentration of liquidation liquidity sits between $123,500 and $125,000

If bulls manage to hold $120,000 and push higher, the price could accelerate toward this range as short positions are forced to close, potentially pushing Bitcoin into price discovery beyond its all-time high price of $122,838, which is roughly 2% away from prices seen at press time.

Predictions about BTC’s next probable move were mostly towards the upside as most of the community celebrated the flagship cryptocurrency’s return above the $120k mark.

For market analyst Merlijn the trader, Bitcoin had entered into the distribution phase of this market cycle, which is a period often marked by parabolic rallies.

“$BTC is about to move faster than you think,” the analyst wrote, while sharing an accompanying daily chart for the BTC/USD trading pair.

Merlijn The Trader

@MerlijnTrader
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Bitcoin Accumulation is over. Manipulation is done.

Now comes the parabolic phase.

$BTC is about to move faster than you think.

Are you positioned… or watching from the sidelines?

1:30 PM · Aug 11, 2025

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However, the journey may not be smooth sailing, according to fellow analyst cyclop, who spotted an unfilled CME gap.

Per his insights, BTC may be swinging to a low around $117.5k to fill the gap and, as is typical, may climb back above ATH into price discovery subsequently.

𝗰𝘆𝗰𝗹𝗼𝗽

@nobrainflip
·Follow

$BTC

An unfilled gap

Perfect scenario:

to $117.5k

then to $126k

A good chance to buy alts

6:04 PM · Aug 11, 2025

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CME gaps are price ranges left open on the Chicago Mercantile Exchange’s Bitcoin futures chart when the market closes for the weekend and reopens at a different price on Monday

Traders often expect these gaps to be “filled,” meaning price revisits that range, because market activity tends to retrace to levels where trading was skipped.

Once the gap is filled, buying pressure returns, as traders view it as a reset point before the market resumes its broader trend.

Other analysts, like Crypto Fella, were also expecting BTC to post new all-time highs soon, especially since Bitcoin had successfully retested its previous ATH as support after breaking out of a multi-month falling wedge, a pattern that often signals the start of a sustained bullish trend.

Altcoin market

The total market capitalization of all altcoins rose 6.5% to an intraday high of $1.79 trillion on Aug. 11 before backpedalling to $1.65 trillion, a 1.8% drop over the 24-hour period.

Ethereum, the leading altcoin by market cap, initially rallied 3% in morning Asian time to $4,340 before settling at $4,299, holding nearly 2% gains over the day

Its price continues to trend positively as spot ETFs continue to be in demand, with a surge in inflows observed in the last week

A growing number of treasury companies have also recently begun accumulating ETH.

Other major altcoins showed subdued price action, with Solana (SOL), Dogecoin (DOGE), and Cardano experiencing modest drops of 1-2% while XRP (XRP), BNB (BNB), and Tron (TRX) barely managed to stay in the positive.

Such minor cool-offs are common, especially as most of these altcoins were all in profit on the weekly time frame.

As the global crypto market rallied past the $4 trillion milestone for the second time in a month, many traders took to X to debate whether a potential altcoin season may be looming.

According to an observation shared by trader ₿theBloomberger, the crypto market could be on the verge of an altcoin bull run now that a golden cross has formed on the ETH/BTC chart.

The analyst added that the last time this pattern was confirmed, which was nearly four years ago, it led to the 2021 bull run.

That cycle saw several altcoins record gains of nearly 50–100x on their best-performing rallies.

Echoing a similar bullish outlook for an approaching altcoin season, fellow trader Merlijn The Trader noted that the total crypto market cap has recently rebounded from a key support level on the weekly chart, a level that previously sparked bull rallies in 2017 and 2021.

The top gainers among the largest 100 cryptocurrencies by market cap today were Pump.fun (PUMP), Lido DAO (LDO), and Cronos (CRO) with gains of 18.5%, 8.8% and 5.6% respectively.

Source: CoinMarketCap

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