Bitcoin remains under pressure as gold targets a new all-time high

  • Bitcoin’s rally attempt fails as it retreats to below 112,000 dollars.
  • Gold continues its quiet but powerful climb, nearing its all-time high.
  • In August, gold is up nearly 4 percent while Bitcoin has fallen over 5 percent.

A hopeful rally in the cryptocurrency market was decisively crushed on Thursday, as steady selling pressure throughout the US trading session sent prices into a familiar retreat.

The failed bounce underscores a growing sense of fatigue in the digital asset space and throws a stark and revealing light on the silent, powerful ascent of its analog rival: gold.

After a brief flirtation with the 113,000 dollar level, Bitcoin (BTC) was beaten back, sinking to 111,800 late in the session for a loss of 0.7 percent over the past 24 hours.

The selling was even more pronounced in other major tokens, with Ether (ETH) and XRP shedding a more sizable 2.1 percent and 1.4 percent, respectively.

The one notable bright spot in a sea of red was Solana’s SOL, which managed to buck the trend with a respectable 3.1 percent gain.

A silent ascent to the summit

While the crypto market grapples with its own inertia, a different story is unfolding in the world of precious metals.

Quietly, but with unshakable conviction, gold has been on the rise. The yellow metal added another 0.8 percent on Thursday, climbing to 3,477 dollars per ounce.

This puts the safe-haven asset just a few dollars shy of the record high of 3,534 dollars it touched earlier this month.

The performance in August paints an even more dramatic picture of this great divergence: while Bitcoin has slid 5.2 percent, gold has rallied by nearly 4 percent.

The great disconnect

This decoupling is the great mystery currently haunting the market.

The very same macroeconomic tailwinds that are propelling gold higher—namely, the prospect of lower interest rates and a weaker US dollar—are conspicuously failing to ignite any significant bid for “digital gold.”

The fundamental case for Bitcoin as an inflation hedge and a store of value is being put to a severe test, and for now, it is failing.

A September showdown looms

The stage is now set for a potentially volatile final four months of the year.

The resumption of Federal Reserve rate cuts appears to be firmly on the table for September, a move that could be amplified by President Trump’s appointment of one or possibly two new, likely dovish, members to the Fed’s board.

As these powerful forces converge, the market is watching to see if Bitcoin can finally catch the golden tailwind or if its strange and troubling disconnect is a sign of a deeper malaise.

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JPMorgan says Bitcoin is undervalued compared to gold as volatility plummets

  • Bitcoin’s volatility halves in 2025, attracting cautious institutional investors.
  • Corporate treasuries now hold over 6% of Bitcoin’s circulating supply.
  • JPMorgan values Bitcoin $16K below gold parity, implying $126K potential.

JPMorgan Chase is making waves with their latest take on Bitcoin as the investment bank identified that it’s way undervalued compared to gold.

What caught their attention? Bitcoin’s volatility has absolutely plummeted this year. We’re talking about a drop from around 60% earlier in 2024 down to just 30% now, which is at record low levels.

The bank sees this as Bitcoin finally growing up and moving away from being this wild, speculative plaything to something that actually behaves more like a serious investment.

When an asset becomes less volatile, it starts looking a lot more like gold in terms of being a safe place to park money.

Reduced Bitcoin volatility sparks institutional interest

JPMorgan’s latest research shows that Bitcoin’s falling volatility is attracting a lot of new attention from institutional investors. For a long time, the extreme price swings kept cautious investors away.

But now that things have calmed down, more and more investors are starting to see Bitcoin as a real, long-term part of a diversified portfolio.

The report suggests this shift is making Bitcoin more credible, much like traditional assets. It’s solidifying its role as both an investment and a store of value in mainstream markets.

In fact, corporate treasuries now hold more than 6% of the total Bitcoin supply.

Publicly traded companies are also gaining exposure by being included in stock indices, which brings in more money without them having to directly trade crypto.

Following up on that, JPMorgan’s analysis also shows that Bitcoin is undervalued by about $16,000 when you compare it to gold, using models that account for volatility.

Their report puts an implied price target for Bitcoin at roughly $126,000.

This suggests there’s a lot of room for the price to grow as the market catches up to Bitcoin’s new stability and its growing role with institutional investors.

Even though Bitcoin’s price has been resiliently holding above $111,000, this valuation gap means there’s still a lot of potential for it to appreciate further as more people adopt it and its volatility stays low.

Market dynamics and future outlook

In their analysis, JPMorgan also points to a shift in market dynamics. Passive capital, which is the money coming from index funds that buy shares in companies holding Bitcoin, is creating a steady demand.

This helps shield Bitcoin from being driven solely by speculative trading.

They also noted that the 200-day moving average has been a strong technical support level, which reinforces a long-term bullish outlook even with small, short-term price swings.

Still, some indicators show that traders are keeping cautious hedging positions in the options markets. This reflects a more short-term bearish sentiment, even though the overall trend remains positive.

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ETH outperforms BTC by 26% as a structural shift grips the crypto market

  • Traders now see a 26% chance of ETH hitting 5,000 dollars this month.
  • A “major liquidity floor” for ETH is being built by institutions.
  • ETH has gained 20% in 30 days, while Bitcoin has fallen 6%.

A tectonic shift is reshaping the cryptocurrency landscape. While Bitcoin, the long-reigning king, stumbles under the weight of fading momentum and massive liquidations, a powerful rebellion is brewing.

Ethereum is leading the charge, its price buoyed by a torrent of institutional capital and a fundamental re-allocation of liquidity that has traders now seriously betting on it conquering the coveted 5,000 dollar milestone this month.

The growing conviction is quantifiable. On the prediction market Polymarket, the odds of ETH hitting 5,000 dollars have surged to 26%, a dramatic climb from just 16% a few days ago.

This is not a rally built on fleeting hype, but on a deep and structural change in how capital is flowing through the digital asset ecosystem.

The institutional bedrock

At the heart of Ethereum’s ascent is a powerful vote of confidence from the market’s giants. 

“Ethereum’s recent strength is mainly showcased by the level of flows into it, where a major liquidity floor has been built by institutions,” said March Zheng, General Partner at Bizantine Capital, in a note to CoinDesk.

He added that the ETH/BTC price ratio was at a localized low, making a rebound overdue, and that this cycle is supported by stronger fundamentals like global stablecoin adoption and clearer regulation.

This sentiment is echoed by industry leaders who see a market increasingly focused on real-world value. 

“Markets react to headlines, but longer-term value is driven by fundamentals,” Gracie Lin, CEO of OKX Singapore, told CoinDesk. 

“This is why Ethereum continues to show strength through real utility — even as prices pull back, big institutional moves like BitMine’s ETH accumulation prove there’s deep conviction in its role at the core of crypto.”

A market in motion: the re-allocation of liquidity

This isn’t just an Ethereum story; it’s a story about a market in motion. The market maker Enflux, in a note to CoinDesk, described a broad “structural reallocation of liquidity across the crypto landscape.” 

Capital is actively rotating away from a stagnant Bitcoin and chasing new, emerging narratives. XRP has joined ETH in leading the majors, while assets like CRO are gaining traction following initiatives like Trump Media’s “Cronos Treasury.”

Furthermore, the surge in trading volume on decentralized platforms like Hyperliquid, which surpassed Robinhood in July, highlights how speculative energy is now tilting toward crypto-native infrastructure.

These are not just isolated trends; they are undercurrents of a fundamental shift in where the market sees future growth.

The unsettled throne

This altcoin uprising stands in stark contrast to the grim picture in the Bitcoin market.

While trading at 111,733.63 dollars, its on-chain activity remains weak, and a staggering 940 million dollars in recent liquidations signal a dangerous fade in momentum.

Over the past 30 days, while ETH has soared 20%, Bitcoin has fallen 6%.

The divergence is clear, but the conviction is about to face a critical test. As Gracie Lin of OKX noted, “With new macro data like the US PCE coming in later this week, we’re about to see how that conviction holds up amidst volatility.” 

The rebellion is underway, but the final battle for market dominance is yet to be fought.

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UAE identified as holding $700M in Bitcoin from mining operations

  • According to blockchain analytics platform Arkham Intelligence, the United Arab Emirates holds about $700 million in Bitcoin.
  • Arkham traced the mining activity to Citadel Mining, which it said was established in Abu Dhabi in 2022.
  • Based on Arkham’s report and estimates from BitBo, the UAE ranks sixth among sovereign Bitcoin holders.

The United Arab Emirates holds about $700 million in Bitcoin, primarily accumulated from mining operations, according to blockchain analytics platform Arkham Intelligence.

In a post on X on Monday, Arkham said it had become one of the first to publicly identify the UAE government’s wallets, estimating that they contain about 6,300 Bitcoin.

The holdings were attributed to mining conducted through Citadel Mining, a company majority owned by the government-backed International Holding Company (IHC).

Arkham noted that, unlike the United States and the United Kingdom, where national Bitcoin holdings have largely come from police asset seizures, the UAE’s reserves are linked directly to mining.

Speculation around the country’s Bitcoin exposure had previously suggested much larger reserves.

Market rumors often placed the UAE’s holdings at around 420,000 Bitcoin, worth roughly $46 billion at current prices, and allegedly sourced from seizures of illicit activity.

Those estimates, if accurate, would have positioned the UAE as the largest sovereign Bitcoin holder globally.

Arkham’s findings, however, put the figure substantially lower.

Mining operations tied to royal-linked conglomerates

Arkham traced the mining activity to Citadel Mining, which it said was established in Abu Dhabi in 2022.

The firm reported that the venture was developed in collaboration with Phoenix Group, a publicly listed UAE mining company, and the IHC.

Arkham added that it corroborated the timeline of on-chain mining activity with satellite imagery showing the construction of the facility.

The company said on-chain transactions between Phoenix and Citadel also matched figures disclosed in official documents.

Based on its analysis, Arkham estimated that Citadel Mining has mined a total of 9,300 Bitcoin to date.

Citadel Mining is 85% owned by 2pointzero, a holding entity controlled by IHC.

The IHC itself is majority owned by the UAE Royal Group, a conglomerate led by Sheikh Tahnoon bin Zayed Al Nahyan of Abu Dhabi’s royal family, which holds a 61% stake.

How UAE compares with other nation-states

Based on Arkham’s report and estimates from BitBo, the UAE ranks sixth among sovereign Bitcoin holders.

Its reserves place it behind Bhutan, which holds 11,286 Bitcoin, and ahead of El Salvador, which holds 6,246.

The United States remains the largest holder with 198,012 Bitcoin, most of it originating from law enforcement seizures.

China follows with 194,000, mainly stemming from its 2019 crackdown on the PlusToken scam, while the UK ranks third with 61,245.

BitBo estimates that sovereign entities collectively hold about 517,000 Bitcoin, or 2.4% of the total circulating supply, with a total value exceeding $56 billion.

In the corporate sector, Michael Saylor’s firm MicroStrategy is cited as the largest institutional holder, with a treasury of 629,376 Bitcoin, representing about 2.9% of the supply.

The company continues to expand its Bitcoin reserves.

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Bitcoin slips below $110,000 as analysts warn of ‘brittle’ market structure

  • The crypto bull run is fraying as Bitcoin slips below $110,000.
  • A massive whale sale triggered over 500 million in liquidations.
  • A huge divergence: Retail is selling while institutions are buying.

The crypto bull run is fraying at the edges, its momentum faltering in the face of a profound and unsettling contradiction.

On the surface, the market is a picture of fragility and fear, with thinning liquidity, massive liquidations, and a Bitcoin price struggling to hold the line.

But beneath this chaotic veneer, a different story is unfolding: one of quiet, colossal, and strategic accumulation by the world’s financial titans.

The immediate pain is undeniable. Bitcoin is trading just below $110,000 after another failed attempt to bounce, marking a roughly 7% decline since its euphoric peak after Fed Chair Powell’s dovish speech.

Ethereum, which briefly tasted the air near 4,900, has been sharply rejected and is now battling to hold $4,300, showing clear signs of exhaustion after weeks of outperformance.

This weakness cascaded through the altcoin market on Monday, with ETH, SOL, DOGE, and others sliding 6-8%, triggering a brutal 700 million liquidation event that overwhelmingly punished long positions.

A structure of glass: the anatomy of a collapse

For many market observers, this is a textbook case of a rally running on fumes. The analytics firm Glassnode, in its latest Market Pulse, paints a grim picture of the cycle slipping from euphoria into fragility.

They point to fading spot momentum, a stunning 1 billion swing to outflows in ETFs, and realized profits collapsing back to breakeven.

This structural weakness was laid bare in a brutal weekend crash, the anatomy of which was traced by QCP Capital.

They revealed that the collapse was initiated by a single early holder unloading a massive 24,000 BTC into dangerously thin liquidity.

The sale cascaded through the market, triggering $500 million in liquidations and exposing, as QCP noted, just how brittle the system has become.

The quiet accumulators: a different breed of buyer

But this is only half the story. The Singapore-based market maker Enflux argues that a myopic focus on the retail washout misses the bigger picture. Not all flows, they contend, are created equal.

While leveraged retail traders were being blown out, a different kind of player was making its move.

Enflux points to a staggering $2.55 billion ETH stake routed through a single contract and the UAE royal family’s 700 million BTC exposure via Citadel Mining.

These are not speculative punts; they are the deliberate, programmatic footprints of sovereign and institutional allocators. In their analysis, these giants are intentionally “using volatility to scale into size.”

This is the great divergence: a market where the short-term conviction of the crowd is shattered, while the long-horizon conviction of the “smart money” is quietly being deployed.

A bleak September looms?

The problem, however, is that this long-term institutional buying does little to solve the immediate crisis of liquidity on the Bitcoin blockchain itself.

With transaction fees collapsing toward decade lows and blocks clearing with little congestion, the network is running quiet.

This is a critical issue for miners, who are already squeezed by the halving, and it leaves the broader market exposed and bracing for what comes next.

As September—historically Bitcoin’s weakest month—approaches, the market is on a knife’s edge.

The battle between the fragile, fleeing retail trader and the patient, accumulating giant will determine whether the next move is a painful consolidation or a much deeper, darker drawdown.

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