Bitcoin Breaks $118K As ‘Uptober’ Rally Takes Hold On Dollar Weakness

Bitcoin surged above $118,000 on Thursday, lifting the broader digital asset market as October’s long-anticipated rally, often dubbed “Uptober,” took ￰1￱ world’s largest cryptocurrency gained 4% in the past 24 hours, climbing as high as $118,856. The market-wide upswing pushed total crypto capitalization up 4.6% to $4.17 ￰2￱ jumped 6.1% to $4,385, while XRP rose 5.6% to $2.97. This early momentum reinforced the belief among traders that October often brings strength to digital assets, with Uptober becoming a familiar rallying cry each ￰3￱ Uncertainty Fuels Investor Shift Toward Digital Assets The sharp rebound came after a week of heavy liquidations and selling pressure that had dragged prices ￰4￱ pointed to whale accumulation at the start of the week as a key driver of the ￰5￱ this week, the US entered its first government shutdown in six years after lawmakers failed to pass a stopgap funding ￰6￱ shutdown, which began at midnight on Wednesday, put about 800,000 federal employees on furlough and is expected to delay key economic data releases, including jobs ￰7￱ first US government shutdown in six years has begun, threatening wide disruption and raising doubts over the timing of spot altcoin ETF approvals. #Shutdown #cryptoETF ￰0￱ — ￰8￱ (@cryptonews) October 1, 2025 Rather than dampening sentiment, the uncertainty gave Bitcoin fresh appeal as a hedge against government dysfunction.

“Markets hate uncertainty, so expect volatility to increase,” said Lucas Kiely, CEO of digital asset wealth manager Future ￰9￱ added that unless Washington resolves the impasse swiftly, the administration could use the crisis to push for cuts in the federal workforce, although he expected the Senate to block such measures and for a deal to arrive ￰10￱ Agency Response Narrows Liquidity Windows Investor flows into Bitcoin demonstrate its resilience during periods of political ￰11￱ often view decentralized assets as an alternative when traditional markets falter, and the shutdown strengthened that perception. Still, experts warned that a protracted funding deadlock could weigh on longer-term ￰12￱ in regulatory decisions, particularly around spot altcoin exchange-traded funds, would test investor patience.

“If the SEC or CFTC cannot respond, you get higher legal risk assumptions, slower integration deals and narrower liquidity windows,” said Hedy Wang, CEO and co-founder of Block ￰13￱ explained that staffing shortages could slow supervisory work, inter-agency coordination and even comparability reviews with ￰14￱ would mean new issuers wait longer for approvals and banks hesitate to move from pilot projects to production. “Practically, that’s a near-term adoption drag even if the long-term framework remains solid,” she ￰15￱ Pressures Provide Extra Lift To Cryptocurrencies Despite those concerns, traders seized on Thursday’s rally as proof of Bitcoin’s staying ￰16￱ narrative around Uptober, built over years of October gains, added further fuel to the ￰17￱ rally also reflected broader macroeconomic dynamics.

A weakening dollar, pressured by ongoing political turmoil and investor risk rotation, gave cryptocurrencies extra ￰18￱ global markets bracing for volatility, digital assets drew strength from their role as an alternative investment.