Altseason Alert: Crypto Plunge Below $110K - Trump Targets Fed’s Cook as Bitcoin Dominance Craters

Markets reel as Bitcoin nosedives past $110K—Trump's latest Fed maneuver sparks institutional tremors while altcoins bleed out.

Power Plays & Political Pressure

The White House shakes the chessboard—Trump moves against Governor Lisa Cook, sending shockwaves through monetary policy circles. Traditional finance braces while crypto traders eye the chaos as a potential entry signal.

Dominance Drain & Altcoin Opportunities

Bitcoin's market share craters—the smart money rotates into battered altcoins with solid fundamentals. This isn't a crash—it's a clearance sale for assets primed for the next leg up.

Regulatory Roulette

Meanwhile, Tether and Circle court South Korean banks ahead of stablecoin framework finalization—because nothing says 'decentralized revolution' like begging legacy banks for permission to play. The race for institutional approval accelerates while retail traders navigate the volatility.

Bottom Line: Blood in the streets usually means opportunity for those who keep their nerve—just don't expect traditional finance to hand you the keys without a fight.

Data from TOTAL2 (the market cap excluding BTC) shows declines in tandem, suggesting there is little appetite for true rotational flows. Instead, the entire market has entered a holding pattern; the question is when will altcoins finally hit?

Why is Crypto Crashing Today, Again? Altcoin Open Interest Surges to Record $61.7B

Even as spot flows remain muted, Altcoin Futures Open Interest (OI) surged +$9.2 billion on August 22, reaching a new all-time high of $61.7 billion. According to Glassnode data, alt OI has added nearly $40 billion since March, far outpacing Bitcoin’s OI growth of $30 billion over the same period.

The mechanics resemble an overheated derivatives market where Bitcoin’s pullbacks spark amplified losses across altcoins.

Ethereum’s price fell almost 7%, bottoming at $4,313 before stabilizing. At the same time, the Altcoin Season Index dropped from 61 to 56 in one day, reviving memories of earlier correction signals.

Ethereum, Altcoin Season Index, and Historical Warning Signs. Should You be Worried?

According to DeFi Llama, the total DeFi market TVL sits NEAR $95 billion, down from its 2025 peak.  Leverage is piling on top of falling prices. Funding rates across Binance, OKX, and Bybit have stayed positive, which indicates aggressive long positioning despite weak price action.

CoinGlass shows how lopsided the structure has become:

• Altcoin OI up 18% this week.
• Spot flows are flat. Over three days, $1.1 billion was flushed in liquidations, led by ETH, SOL, and AVAX.

The picture is one of fragility, not strength.

BitMine Buys the Dip, Betting on ETH Recovery. What Will Come Next for Crypto Markets?

One major player is already calling the bottom. Tom Lee of Fundstrat predicted ETH wouldciting strong risk/reward levels near $4,300.

Backing the call, BitMine Immersion Technologies added 4,871 ETH ($21.3 million), bringing its holdings to 1.72 million ETH worth about $7.5 billion. That cements BitMine’s position as the second-largest ETH treasury after Michael Saylor’s Strategy.

With leverage stretched, Bitcoin dominance slipping, and altcoin OI at records, traders face a pivotal moment. Either rotational flows could kick in to fuel an altseason, or the market risks another leverage flush that drags the entire sector lower. Until then, volatility looks set to remain the norm.

Key Takeaways

• Why is crypto crashing today, again? All of us believed that after Fed Chair Jerome Powell greenlit rate cuts we were in the clear.
• Tom Lee of Fundstrat predicted ETH would “bottom in the next few hours,” citing strong risk/reward levels near $4,300.