Bitcoin, XRP and Solana All Gained Over 10% Last Week, Then Fell Together in a Day. Was That their Peak?
Bitcoin, XRP, and Solana surged more than 10% in a single week, then gave it all back in a single day. Whether that selloff was a speed bump or a signal depends on one critical price level.
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Bitcoin (CRYPTO:BTC), XRP (CRYPTO:XRP), and Solana (CRYPTO:SOL) all gained more than 10% last week. However, they fell together on September 24, with XRP down 6.9% and Bitcoin and Solana down about 2% each. As of September 25, they had bounced back, with Bitcoin trading at $84,403, XRP at $1.55, and Solana at $117. So, the question remains: Was September 23 the peak for Bitcoin, XRP, and Solana?
Forced Short Closes and ETF Money Carried the Week to September 23
The week of September 23 kicked off with strong momentum, largely driven by Bitcoin’s first weekly close above its 50-week moving average in 45 weeks. Many traders use this average as a trend line to distinguish falling from rising markets.
A significant factor in the recent price hike was the closing of short positions. On September 21, exchanges forced the closure of about $300 million in short positions in just an hour. A short position is a trade that profits from falling prices; closing one requires buying back the asset, which pushes the price higher until shorts are cleared out.
Institutional investment also played a crucial role. U.S. spot Bitcoin ETFs attracted a massive $999 million on September 21 and another $715 million on September 22, according to SoSoValue. Despite the drop on September 24, XRP was up 15.8% for the week, Solana 15.5%, and Bitcoin 10.4%.
A Near-5% Treasury Yield Pulled All Three Down on September 24
The drop on September 24 can be traced back to the bond market. The 5-year Treasury yield nearly reached 5% on September 23, up from approximately 4.6% at the beginning of September—a peak not seen since 2007. When government bonds offer returns near 5%, investors expect interest-free cryptocurrencies to offer higher potential gains to justify the investment.
On that day, Bitcoin fell from around $84,600 to about $83,600, while XRP fell below $1.50. Forced liquidations of long positions exacerbated the selling pressure, pushing prices lower.
Bitcoin, XRP and Solana All Rebounded After the September 25 Options Expiry
On September 25, traders had anticipated a sell-off due to the quarterly expiry of Bitcoin options. Approximately $16 billion worth of Bitcoin options were set to settle on Deribit, with the price at which the most contracts expire worthless near $76,000, about 10% lower than the market price.
However, the expiry passed without the anticipated decline; Bitcoin was up 0.7%, XRP increased by 4%, and Solana grew by 2.7% in the 24 hours leading up to the 25th.
XRP bounced back above $1.52, a key level for traders watching its recovery. Despite this rebound, Bitcoin and XRP have yet to reclaim their recent highs—Bitcoin peaked at around $87,400 on September 22, while XRP reached $1.66 on September 23. Solana is currently trading at $117, about 3% above its September 24 price of $114.
Was That the Top for Bitcoin, XRP and Solana?
So far, it doesn’t seem like we’ve reached a peak. All three cryptocurrencies bounced back the day after the drop, and the options expiry took place without significant fallout. Additionally, Bitcoin’s last weekly close on September 21 put it above its 50-week average.
However, the momentum driven by short covering has run its course, meaning that any future gains will have to come from genuine buying interest rather than forced buybacks.
The key factor to watch is Bitcoin’s price relative to its September 24 low of $83,600. If Bitcoin drops below that level before the end of the month, we might consider September 23 to be the top. Conversely, if it closes above $87,400—about 4% higher—then the rally is likely back on track.
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Sam Daodu is a crypto analyst who's spent nearly a decade making blockchain understandable—no easy task when most whitepapers read like fever dreams. He writes for 24/7 Wall St., covering Bitcoin, altcoins, and crypto market analysis for investors. Before crypto, he was a tech writer (back when explaining "the cloud" was peak innovation). Since 2018, he's written for CoinTelegraph, Yahoo Finance, The Block, Cryptonews, Zypto, Rain, and more—basically anywhere people want crypto news without the headache. Sam runs MacLabs Marketing, a content agency for crypto brands tired of sounding like AI wrote their website. He also publishes free crypto education on his site for Web3 enthusiasts who think "gas fees" is a typo. When he's not writing or staring at charts, Sam's either: - Watching anime (currently convinced One Piece has better tokenomics than most altcoins) - At the gym sculpting himself into a Greek god - Listening to the music your mum warned you only bad boys listen to Connect: LinkedIn | Email | MacLabs Marketing
