Bitcoin, XRP, Solana, Dogecoin Remain Rangebound: Why Has the Rally Stalled?

In the first week of September, Bitcoin(CRYPTO: BTC) traded in a tight range while XRP(CRYPTO: XRP),Solana(CRYPTO: SOL) and Dogecoin(CRYPTO: DOGE) outperformed as leverage shifted towards altcoins ahead of a busy macro week.

Why Is BTC Rangebound?

Bitcoin has traded between $77,100 and $81,300 over the past 20 trading sessions, with most recent activity concentrated near the middle of the range.

The $77,100 level is now key support making it one of Bitcoin’s highest-volume trading levels of 2026. It is also where BTC broke down in May.

A drop below could weaken the medium-term uptrend. A break above $81,300 could quickly push Bitcoin toward $86,500.

Bitcoin has seen little trading between $81,300 and $86,500, creating a potential “volume vacuum,” Bitfinex said on Sept. 9

Selling pressure has also been well absorbed, with aggregate Spent Output Profit Ratio, near 1.002, indicating Bitcoin is broadly changing hands around break-even.

About 69%-71% of Bitcoin’s supply is in profit, still below the 74.7% level that has historically signaled a shift from bear to bull market.

That suggests the current move remains a bear-market relief phase until the threshold is decisively crossed.

XRP, SOL, DOGE Join Altcoin Rotation

Bitcoin’s subdued volatility has created a much different environment across the broader crypto market.

All 29 of the largest liquid crypto pairs gained between Sept. 1 and Sept. 8, delivering a median return of 10.2% compared with Bitcoin’s 1.4% gain.

Dogecoin climbed 10.3%, while XRP gained 4.9% and Solana advanced 3.4%. Ethereum(CRYPTO: ETH) rose 2.8%.

Polkadot led major altcoins with a 43% surge, followed by Zcash at 42%, Kaspa at 28.8%, Near at 23% and Bittensor at 17.4%.

The rotation pushed Bitcoin dominance down from 60.4% to 59.2% since the beginning of September.

More importantly, aggregate open interest in altcoin perpetual futures surpassed Bitcoin open interest this week for the first time since December 2024.

The combination of sideways Bitcoin prices, neutral funding and rising altcoin leverage has historically created favorable conditions for speculative capital to move further out on the risk curve.

But that comes with a warning.

A similar setup emerged in December 2024 when altcoin open interest overtook Bitcoin’s. A subsequent market decline triggered $1.7 billion in liquidations in a single day, with altcoins accounting for 91% of the positions wiped out.

That makes the current rise in altcoin breadth both an indication of improving risk appetite and a potential leverage warning.

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