Bitcoin hovered near $111,000 on Saturday, extending a modest rebound from last week’s lows as traders cautiously re-embraced risk.
Ether rose 3.5% to $3,970, BNB and Solana rose more than 3%, while XRP jumped 4.5% to lead gains among the majors. Cardano’s ADA was unchanged, while Tron’s TRX fell 5%, leading losses among the majors.
Traders appear willing to pick strength again, especially in tokens with clearer catalysts a week after a $19 billion liquidation event wiped out risk appetite among market participants. BNB’s 5 rally this week followed renewed optimism about Binance’s prospects after founder Changpeng Zhao received a pardon from US President Donald Trump since that end, and some traders read it and some traders read it over. 2023.
“This is a huge moment for the industry,” said David Namdar, CEO of CEA Industries, which holds one of the largest BNB government bonds. “We believe that CZ’s pardon is more than a turning point for him personally, but also for BNB and potentially for Binance, paving the way for greater access to the US market.”
Solana, meanwhile, continues to attract institutional flows and is increasingly being treated as a liquidity proxy for risk-on sentiment. SOL’s 5% gain makes it one of the few majors to have a positive week, even as broader appetite for altcoins remains muted.
Yet this is not a return to full risk-taking. The market is adjusting to a slow higher level after October’s record liquidation event, which wiped out nearly $20 billion in open interest and left leveraged traders reeling.
Since then, funding rates have normalized, perpetual volume has fallen sharply, and spot buying has taken the lead — a sign that long-term money is starting to pick up again.
“Bitcoin held the key $105,000 level throughout the flush and that appears to have stabilized confidence,” said Nick Ruck, director at LVRG Research. “We are optimistic that markets can improve as long-term fundamentals pull back investors, although macro volatility keeps the upside contained.”
Beneath the surface, emotions remain mixed. The fear index has been hovering around 25 for days, suggesting that conviction remains low even as the positioning resets. But on-chain activity — especially among whales and ETF inflows — continues to signal accumulation rather than exit.
October has been defined by forced selling and false starts and is on track to be the worst since 2015, dampening an otherwise bullish month that averaged over 25% returns for bitcoin.
As such, bitcoin’s strength above $110,000 keeps the structure intact, but traders choose rotation over expansion and prefer selective exposure over broad speculation.
And for a market that has spent most of the month preparing for the next wave of liquidations, that alone counts as progress.
