The cryptocurrency market came under pressure on Thursday along with global financial markets as the US dollar index surged to its highest level since September 2002, at 109.96.
As the dollar rose, few assets were retained: the S&P 500, DOW and NASDAQ were all in the red, down 1.03%, 0.45% and 1.81%, respectively.
History shows that September can be challenging for the financial markets.
As for when volatility will subside, it may continue for some time as bullish traders are still overwhelmed by bears.
Further evidence that Bitcoin sentiment remains negative was provided by crypto analytics firm Santiment, which showed an increase in average BTC funding rates.
According to the average BTC funding rate on Binance, BitMEX, DYDX and FTX, the reaction to Friday's drop was the most aggressive since May, as repoted by Santiment.
Ethereum shorts are accumulating.
One of the biggest stories in cryptocurrency right now is the upcoming Ethereum (ETH) merger, projected to happen on September 15.
At a time when many expected a "buy the rumor, sell the news" type of event, it starts to look like the merger has already been booked, prompting investors to position themselves ahead of a potential price drop.
Santiment did warn to go along with the expected Ether price pullback, highlighting the fact that price increases have historically been more common under such conditions.
In general, it was a negative day for the crypto market.
A quiet day in the altcoin market:
Of the top 200 coins listed on CoinMarketCap, Decred (DCR), which added $11.7, was the best performer for the day, followed by an 11% gain in Balancer (BAL).
The total market capitalization of cryptocurrencies currently stands at $967 billion, with a 39% Bitcoin dominance rate.
