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Bitcoin (BTC) traders lay in wait for fresh volatility on Sept. 29 as BTC/USD cooled near $19,000.

Volatility absent a day before the monthly close

Data from Cointelegraph Markets Pro and TradingView charted a calm overnight phase for the largest cryptocurrency, which hit intraday highs above $19,600 the day prior.

Those 6% gains were a welcome relief after heavy losses earlier in the week, but it no clear direction, market participants were still uncertain over how Bitcoin would handle the September monthly close.

“Can certainly build a case for local support holding in this range, at least until the monthly and quarterly close on Friday, unless, of course, we get the mother of all rug pulls,” on-chain analytics resource Material Indicators summarized.

Material Indicators referenced order book data which suggested that $18,000 could provide range support in the event of fresh market weakness.

JPMorgan Chase's CEO Jamie Dimon feels threatened by how the crypto space is disrupting the payment systems, stated the Shark Tank host and multi-millionaire venture capitalist Kevin O’Leary speaking at a Converge22 panel on Sept 28. 

O'Leary made his remarks after Dimon declared himself as a “major skeptic” on "crypto tokens, which you call currency, like Bitcoin," referring to them as "decentralized Ponzi schemes" in his testimony to the United States Congress last week.

Still on the panel, O'Leary explained that friction is one of the major problems in the traditional financial system and, plus, it's how banks profit on transaction fees, adding that stablecoins could lead to a reduction in fees throughout the world. He stated:

"This isn't about speculation on asset price. This is about reducing the fees of how the world's economies work, more transparent, more productive, completely auditable, regulated, but less expensive. So, does Jamie Dimon feel threatened? You are damn right, he does. That is a big part of how he makes money." 

Regarding the regulatory environment in the US, the venture capitalist explained that sovereign wealth and pension funds are waiting for regulation before adding digital assets to their portfolios, noting that:

The assets of crypto brokerage firm Voyager Digital would face a drastically different fate if FTX did not win the bid, claimed a spokesperson of Wave Financial while speaking to Cointelegraph. The spokesperson arguin that better bids were on the table, but they "were passed over for strictly cash offers."

Wave, an SEC-registered digital asset management company with over $1 billion in assets under management (AUM), participated in the auction process, bidding a slightly lower amount than FTX for the assets. FTX secured the winning bid with an amount of $1.4 billion, which must now be approved by the U.S. Bankruptcy Court.

Wave defended its proposal as the only one seeking to maintain the Voyager brand and create a new exchange model that caters to the crypto community, regardless of the financial difference in the bid.

Related: FTX US wins auction for Voyager Digital’s assets

In particular, Wave's proposal sought to "restore value in the VGX token via new and improved utility, saving $200M worth of funds and redistributing assets back to existing Voyager customers," and "extend a revenue share program to depositors through the new exchange model, driven by the liquidity and community of leading layer-1 protocols who joined as investors and minority owners." A Wave's spokesperson also noted that:

The S&P 500 fell for six days in a row and made a new year-to-date low on Sept. 27, but Bitcoin (BTC) maintained its outperformance and stayed well above its June low. This could be a positive sign because markets that show strength on the way down are the ones that outperform in the event of a recovery.

The United States equities markets rebounded sharply on Sept. 28 after the Bank of England announced a bond-buying program and the U.S. Treasury yields pulled back from multi-year highs. As this occurred, strong buying in Bitcoin took place, but BTC was unable to break above its overhead resistance.

A ray of hope for cryptocurrency traders is that October has historically been a strong month for Bitcoin. Barring 2014 and 2018, Bitcoin has managed a positive close in October every year since 2013, according to data from Coinglass.

Although history favors a bounce in October, traders should be careful because the macroeconomic situation is unprecedented and remains a challenge.

Could Bitcoin and altcoins close September on a strong note? Let’s study the charts of the top 10 cryptocurrencies to find out.