Crypto market analysts are warning of a potential 12% drop in Bitcoin’s value this month, citing fragile sentiment, reduced trading activity, and wider macroeconomic headwinds.
At press time, Bitcoin was trading at $111,592, while Ethereum stood at $4,368 and XRP at $2.86. Despite a modest 1.35% gain in the last 24 hours, Bitcoin’s market capitalization remains subdued at $2.22 trillion, down from the start of August. The overall crypto market capitalization has fallen to $3.74 trillion, its lowest level in three weeks.
Historically, September has proven to be a difficult month for Bitcoin. The cryptocurrency has recorded losses in nine of the past 14 Septembers, including an 8% dip in 2017 and a 14% decline in 2019. Drawdowns also occurred in 2020, 2021, and 2022, though the trend was broken in 2023 and 2024.
Institutional interest has played a significant role in Bitcoin’s performance. While several major corporations, including Strategy and Metaplanet, have continued to add Bitcoin to their reserves, exchange-traded funds (ETFs) tell a different story. August saw Ethereum ETFs attract $3.87 billion in net inflows, while Bitcoin ETFs registered $751.12 million in net outflows.
Meanwhile, data from Glassnode revealed that Bitcoin whale holdings—wallets with between 100 and 10,000 BTC—have steadily declined since November 2024. The average holdings now stand at 488 BTC per whale, the lowest since December 2018, reflecting a broader distribution of supply.
Despite the short-term risks, analysts note that long-term institutional adoption and ETF approvals remain key drivers for potential upside in Bitcoin’s trajectory.
