Bitcoin hits $118.5k: All-time high could be next as rate-cut bets crush shorts

Bitcoin price traded close to $118,500 on Thursday as a U.S. authorities shutdown boosted rate-cut odds, the greenback eased, and a visual quick squeeze accelerated throughout derivatives venues.

Gold printed contemporary record highs round $3,895 per ounce as rate-cut pricing firmed and the greenback index hovered close to 97.6. These situations traditionally align with stronger efficiency in bitcoin when actual yields drift decrease. According to Treasury market information, 10-year TIPS yields sat close to 1.77 to 1.78 %, reinforcing the macro impulse that coincided with the transfer.

The day’s leap adopted a reset in positioning that cleared leverage into late September, leaving the tape delicate to macro headlines and circulation shocks. Last week noticed $1.7 billion in crypto liquidations, a cleanout that sometimes reduces one-way convexity till a brand new catalyst arrives.

According to CoinGlass, liquidation heatmaps into the $118,000 to $120,000 zone confirmed dense quick pockets forward of the break, and as soon as cleared, these clusters typically act like step-ladders for continuation if spot demand persists.

Bitcoin is now simply 4.8% away from its all-time high. Should the squeeze proceed, we could see value discovery later in ‘Uptober.’

Funding on main perpetual pairs leaned mildly constructive into the transfer, with Binance perpetuals printing round +0.0084 % late September, the sort of cool-positive backdrop that helps pattern with out flashing a near-term exhaustion sign.

Spot market pipes stay the engine.

According to Farside Investors, U.S. spot bitcoin ETFs noticed a renewed burst of exercise in, with a single-day web influx of $645 million yesterday, a part of a multi-day run that crossed $1.6 billion.

When every day web inflows maintain past roughly $500 million for 2 classes, value has tended so as to add one other 3 to 7 % over the following 72 hours primarily based on latest 2025 episodes, whereas two or extra classes of outflows worse than $300 million have been related to softer tape and a tilt towards detrimental funding.

The flows are the mechanical bridge between macro narratives and executed orders, and on days when the greenback slips and actual yields drift decrease, ETF creations typically carry that macro into the shut.

On-chain pattern framing stayed anchored on a single quantity merchants can monitor with out guesswork. According to Glassnode’s final Week On-Chain, the short-term holder realized value sat close to $111,000, which features as a shifting line within the sand for momentum.

A decisive every day maintain above that stage traditionally retains the pattern building intact, whereas a loss opens an air pocket towards beforehand accepted worth round $106,000 to $108,000 the place liquidations and bids have met extra often this quarter.

That anchor blends with the seen liquidation map above in the present day’s print, the place remaining pockets round $120,500 to $121,000 type apparent magnets if flows lengthen.

Macro context supplies timing.

The US authorities shutdown that started Oct. 1 difficult the info path into the Oct. 29 Federal Reserve assembly, driving merchants to boost the chance of a 25 foundation level reduce as a hedge in opposition to extended uncertainty.

In that setting, the greenback’s slide towards the high-97s and a grind decrease in actual yields lined up with a bid throughout gold and bitcoin, a pairing that tends to re-appear when inflation-adjusted charges matter greater than progress surprises.

The sign is much less in commentary and extra within the tape since Bitcoin’s largest spot conduit is now the ETF advanced, which channels macro shifts into every day creations and redemptions.

Options supplied one other lens on the near-term path. According to Deribit open-interest information, roughly $8 billion of Bitcoin choices are set to run out on Oct. 31, with focus constructing round spherical strikes at $120,000 and $125,000.

Dealer hedging can pin value in these neighborhoods when flows web to impartial, which helps clarify why post-breakout tapes typically compress towards strikes earlier than a contemporary impulse from ETF prints or macro knocks them out of orbit. Skew and DVOL into the tip of the month stay the short tells on whether or not in the present day’s transfer is bleeding into premium or staying spot-led.

Gold set data on shutdown-linked hedging, whereas Bitcoin joined the transfer with a better beta. This relationship typically emerges when greenback course and actual charges dominate.

BlackRock’s IBIT has been the fastest-growing ETF in historical past, a element that retains the structural demand narrative related every time macro units the backdrop. In such home windows, the comparability will not be a matter of sound cash lore however the sensible impact of decrease low cost charges assembly a high-gamma asset with stay creation rails.

Near-term path can be framed in situations anchored to observable inputs quite than adjectives.

An upside extension towards $121,000 to $125,000 turns into extra possible if mixture U.S. spot ETF inflows exceed $500 million for 2 extra consecutive classes, the greenback index holds under 98, and 10-year TIPS grind towards 1.7 %, whereas funding stays cool-positive and the liquidation pockets above $118,000 proceed to clear.

A high-volatility vary between $112,000 and $121,000 matches a tape the place ETF prints chop between plus or minus $200 million, shutdown headlines pull the greenback backwards and forwards, and seller positioning round $120,000 exerts a pin into the Oct. 31 expiry, in keeping with Deribit information and historic conditioning.

A pullback into the $106,000 to $111,000 band aligns with two or extra days of outflows worse than $300 million, a bounce within the greenback index above 99, an upswing in actual yields again towards or above 1.9 %, and a decisive lack of the $111,000 short-term holder threshold.

To hold the evaluation grounded, probably the most related signposts can be monitored intraday and transformed to a working map.

Signpost	Current/Reference	Bullish if	Bearish if
Aggregate US spot ETF web circulation	See Farside, SoSoValue	≥ +$500M for ≥2 days	≤ -$300M for ≥2 days
Dollar Index (DXY)	~97.6 (Reuters)	< 98 sustained	≥ 99 sustained
10-yr TIPS yield	~1.77–1.78%	Drift towards 1.6–1.7%	≥ 1.9%
STH realized value	~$111,000 (Glassnode)	Daily shut above	Daily shut under
Liquidation pockets	$118K–$121K (CoinGlass)	Cleared with regular funding	Refill with detrimental funding
Options OI focus	$120K/$125K (Deribit)	Pin breaks on circulation impulse	Pin holds into Oct 31

The structural level stays that in the present day’s transfer is extra plumbing than prose.

ETF creations flip macro inputs into tickets, liquidation clusters translate flows into momentum, and on-chain value foundation presents a clear danger marker that aligns with how extra systematic funds monitor developments.

The next set of US ETF prints will check whether or not the previous month’s re-acceleration returns in tandem with a softer greenback.

The $111,000 short-term holder line stays the brink that separates an extension from a digestion section. The remaining liquidation bands above $120,000 at the moment are shut sufficient to matter if flows lengthen earlier than choices hedging reasserts management.

The market will resolve the near-term query via these inputs quite than via rhetoric, and the closing stability of ETF creations and redemptions will present whether or not the bid is extending or fading.

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