BTC slides to $104K as profit-taking surges, DEXE leads altcoins

Bitcoin extended its downward trend on Wednesday, slipping further after bulls failed to reclaim the key resistance zone near $106,000. The broader crypto market also lost ground, with total capitalisation declining from $3.47 trillion to $3.42 trillion. Sentiment weakened slightly, as the Crypto Fear and Greed Index dropped one point to 57, remaining in neutral territory. The failure to generate upward momentum suggests continued investor caution amid broader risk-off conditions. Most altcoins traded in the red during late Asian hours on Wednesday, with only a few posting modest double-digit gains driven by project-specific catalysts, as the broader market looked to Bitcoin for direction. Why is Bitcoin down today? Some of the bearish pressure is coming from an uptick in profit-taking, with on-chain data pointing to a steady rise in realised gains since mid-May. According to Glassnode, entity-adjusted realised profit surged above $500 million per hour three times in the past 24 hours, marking the most aggressive profit-taking spree since early February. On the macro front, a confluence of economic signals is contributing to the subdued momentum in Bitcoin and broader crypto markets. Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell, in his June 2 remarks, maintained a cautious stance on interest rates, emphasizing the need for more data before considering cuts. This dovish yet non-committal approach has left markets uncertain about the Fed’s next moves. Adding to the complexity, President Donald Trump intensified his criticism of Powell, urging immediate rate cuts following a disappointing ADP employment report that showed only 37,000 private-sector jobs added in May, the weakest gain since March 2023. Trade tensions between the U.S. and China further cloud the economic outlook. Despite talks of a potential conversation between Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping, recent escalations, including accusations of trade agreement violations and new tariffs, have heightened uncertainty. Investors are also bracing for the upcoming Employment Situation Report on June 6, which is expected to provide more comprehensive insights into the labor market. Will Bitcoin crash? When writing, Bitcoin was trading at $104,857, down 1.6% over the past 24 hours, as analysts remained split on whether the latest pullback signals further downside or a potential setup for a short-term rebound. Looking at the long-term picture, analysts at Sygnum Bank remain broadly optimistic, citing a sharp decline in Bitcoin’s liquid supply as a key structural tailwind. In their June 2025 investment outlook, the firm noted that available supply had dropped by 30% over the past 18 months, driven by growing institutional demand and the expansion of ETF and corporate treasury holdings. Since late 2023, over 1 million BTC have been withdrawn from exchanges, with equity- and debt-backed Bitcoin acquisition vehicles accelerating the pace. Sygnum speculated that this tightening supply, if met with renewed demand, could trigger sudden upside volatility and demand shocks in the market. The report also highlighted the broader macro environment as a factor boosting Bitcoin’s appeal. With the U.S. dollar weakening and fiscal pressures mounting, investors have begun turning to crypto as a hedge, paralleling gold in terms of safe-haven demand. For the momentum to gain strength, bulls need to clear the key resistance level at $107,500, according to veteran trader and analyst Michaël van de Poppe. He highlighted the zone as a critical breakout point, noting that a close above it could open the path to new all-time highs for Bitcoin and push Ether past $3,000. BTC/USDT 2-hour price chart. Source: Michaël van de Poppe Liquidity data supports the significance of this level, with CoinGlass showing thick order books around both $104,500 and $107,500. Bitcoin liquidation heatmap. Source: Coinglass Recent price action has seen Bitcoin repeatedly sweep liquidity on either side of the range, neutralising leveraged positions but failing to sustain a breakout. However, analysts at QCP believe Bitcoin is unlikely to break decisively out of its current range without a clear catalyst. They cautioned that while modest optimism remains for Q3, upcoming macro risks, such as the impact of tariffs and uncertainty around U.S. fiscal policies like the “Big Beautiful Bill” and debt ceiling negotiations, could inject volatility. Until then, Bitcoin may continue to trade sideways as market participants wait for stronger signals. Nevertheless, some experts had already turned bearish. Economist and “The Bitcoin Standard” author Saifedean Ammous warned that Bitcoin’s current bull cycle may be nearing exhaustion and the flagship crypto could be poised for a correction of as much as 70% to 80% from peak levels based on past trends. Altcoins remain muted Over the past 24 hours, the altcoin market cap fell 4.3% to $1.32 trillion, while the Altcoin Season Index showed a reading of 24, which means Bitcoin is still dominating the broader market sentiment. Ethereum (ETH), the leading altcoin by market cap, was trading relatively flat over the day at $2,650, while other large-cap altcoins showed a mixed sentiment with XRP (XRP) and Tron (TRX) recording gains of 0.7% and 0.5% respectively, while others like Solana (SOL), Dogecoin (DOGE), Sui (SUI) and Hyperliquid (HYPE) saw gains ranging from 2-4%. DeXe (DEXE) stood as the only cryptocurrency among the leading 99 altcoins to record double-digit gains of 10.17% on the day, while Four (FORM) and Quant (QNT) followed with gains of 4.6% and 4.3% respectively. Source: CoinMarketCap DeXe (DEXE) rallied following the commencement of the second phase of its Writer’s Guild initiative, a community-driven content campaign aimed at increasing awareness and driving engagement around the protocol and its token. For Four’s (FORM), no particular catalyst could be identified when writing, as such, the gains could be short-lived. Meanwhile, Quant (QNT) gains were likely driven by hype surrounding its Quant Flow feature, unveiled last week at EBAday in Paris, which is part of the Overledger Fusion upgrade and introduces enhanced automation and programmability to transactions on the network. The post BTC slides to $104K as profit-taking surges, DEXE leads altcoins appeared first on Invezz

Source: Invezz