BTC Bounces Back Above $115k After Dropping to $102k During Friday’s Crash

TL;DR

• Bitcoin is up 3% in the last 24 hours and is now trading above $115k following Friday’s crash.

• Analysts expect BTC to hit $120k over the coming hours or days.

BTC Tops $115k

Bitcoin, the leading cryptocurrency by market cap, has bounced back above $115k after adding 3% to its value in the last 24 hours. The crypto market experienced a flash crash on Friday after President Trump announced a new round of tariffs on China.

The news sent a shockwave through the market, causing Bitcoin to briefly drop to the $102k level. Altcoins recorded even bigger losses, with some losing over 50% of their value within an hour.

The market crash saw over $19 billion worth of leveraged positions wiped out from the market, with several traders recording huge losses. However, Bitcoin has now bounced back above $115k, while most altcoins are approaching their Friday levels.

In an email to Cryptowisser, Nick Forster, Founder at the onchain options platform, Derive.xyz, stated that driven by panic and thin liquidity, BTC, ETH, and SOL saw flash crashes of -12%, -20% and -24.6% respectively, before stabilising. Altcoins were hit even harder as HYPE (-54%), DOGE (-62%), and AVAX (-70%) all suffered catastrophic drawdowns before recovering to more modest losses.

The analyst added that,

“The crash was triggered by renewed fears of a U.S.-China trade war, after Donald Trump threatened an additional 100% tariff on Chinese imports. This came on the heels of China announcing new restrictions on rare earth element exports, escalating tensions between the two economies.”

Forster added that the events on Friday drove elevated volatility across all expiries, signaling expectations of sustained turbulence and a choppy road ahead. Traders are now expecting choppy price action over the coming days, with some optimistic about new all-time highs in the near term.

Ether, the second-largest cryptocurrency by market cap, is trading above $4,100 once again after dropping to the $3,500 region on Friday. The total cryptocurrency market cap is approaching $4 trillion once again as BTC and altcoins recover from Friday’s shock.