Friday turned out to be a pretty good day in the crypto market.
Bitcoin reclaimed $80,000, gaining more than 5% during the move, while the rally spread across the broader market. Solana and Hyperliquid were among the stronger large-cap performers, both gaining around 10% during Friday's advance.
For me, it was also an interesting trading day.
But I'm going to change something about these updates.
I'm happy to talk about the market, the assets I'm watching, the decisions I make and even the mistakes I make.
What I'm not going to publish are my exact results, position sizes, entry prices, stops or active targets.
As more people start following these articles, I think some information is simply better kept private.
So this is going to be a trading journal — not a live feed of my portfolio.
Bitcoin Is Back Above $80,000
Bitcoin finally pushed back above the $80,000 level today after spending the past few weeks consolidating roughly between $75,000 and $78,000.
The move was significant because it wasn't limited to Bitcoin.
Crypto assets rallied broadly, with several altcoins outperforming BTC during the session.
And the timing is particularly interesting.
The Federal Reserve raised its target rate by 25 basis points this week, to 3.75%-4.00%, its first increase since 2023. The Fed said inflation remains elevated and that the increase was intended to support a return toward its 2% inflation objective.
At the same time, the CLARITY Act suffered a setback in the Senate, failing to clear a procedural vote earlier this week. Analysts interviewed by The Block argued that this wasn't necessarily a structural disaster for crypto and that monetary conditions remain an important driver for the market.
And yet here we are.
Bitcoin above $80K.
Altcoins moving.
Crypto still very much alive.
So Maybe We Didn't Need the CLARITY Act After All?
Allow me a little sarcasm here.
You see? Maybe we didn't need that absurd crypto regulation, the CLARITY Act, after all. Apparently, all we needed was a rate hike that puts more interest income into the hands of people who already have capital — giving them even more money to allocate to financial assets.
Yes, I'm being deliberately provocative.
The relationship between interest rates, wealth, consumption and asset prices is obviously far more complicated than that, and one day of market performance doesn't establish cause and effect.
But I still find the contrast amusing.
Crypto was supposed to have another major problem because the CLARITY Act stalled.
A few days later, Bitcoin is back above $80,000.
Meanwhile, regulators themselves haven't stopped working. The CFTC submitted new crypto-asset rules for White House review today, while the SEC has also continued advancing crypto-related initiatives.
Markets have a funny way of reminding us that they don't always care about the narrative we prepared for them.
I Wasn't Even in Front of My Computer All Day
This is probably my favorite part of today's trading session.
I had family commitments, so I couldn't spend Friday sitting in front of my computer watching every candle.
And honestly?
That wasn't necessarily a bad thing.
I already had positions and scenarios in place. I checked the market when I could, managed what needed to be managed and otherwise let the market develop.
That's something I'm learning more and more.
Trading doesn't mean constantly trading.
And managing a position doesn't mean touching it every fifteen minutes.
Sometimes you identify your scenario, take your position, define what would invalidate your idea and then give the market enough time to actually do something.
Watching every tiny movement can sometimes make that harder rather than easier.
I'm Becoming More Comfortable With My Own Analysis
This is probably the biggest change I've noticed recently.
I use tools to help scan the market and identify potentially interesting situations.
They're useful.
But I'm becoming increasingly comfortable doing my own analysis without depending on them.
One of the positions I'm currently holding came from my own analysis. I identified the area that interested me, waited for my entry and took the position.
It's still open.
And I'm deliberately not going to tell you my target while I'm sitting in the trade.
We'll talk about it when it's over.
What matters to me isn't proving that I can predict where the market is going.
I can't.
Nobody can.
What I'm trying to improve is my ability to build a scenario, identify an opportunity, determine when that scenario is wrong and then manage the position accordingly.
That's a very different mindset from simply looking for someone — or some algorithm — to tell you:
BUY.
SELL.
Sometimes the Best Trade Is the One You Don't Take
There was another asset I was interested in today: NEAR.
One of the market-scanning tools I use had identified an interesting situation on it, and after looking at it myself, I was interested.
But I didn't take the position.
My available trading capital was already allocated elsewhere.
That's frustrating when you see another opportunity developing, but it's also part of trading.
You can't take everything.
And trying to take every setup you see eventually creates another problem: overexposure.
I'd rather miss a trade than force myself into another position simply because I'm afraid of watching the market move without me.
There will always be another chart.
Spot and Futures Are Two Different Games
I also traded futures today.
Again, I'm not publishing the asset, entry or result.
What I will say is that leverage completely changes how a trade needs to be understood.
A percentage displayed on a leveraged futures position can look spectacular, but without knowing the leverage behind it, that number is almost meaningless.
Leverage amplifies returns.
It also amplifies losses.
And liquidation doesn't care how confident you were about your analysis.
That's why I'm going to keep leveraged trades clearly separated from my spot and longer-term positions in these updates.
They're different instruments with different risk profiles.
And Then There Are Meme Coins...
Yes, I have some.
No, I'm not going to make them the stars of these articles.
😂
I consider these positions highly speculative.
They can move incredibly quickly in either direction, liquidity can disappear, and a beautiful percentage on your screen can become a very different number surprisingly fast.
So while they are part of my crypto activity, I don't want someone reading these articles to see a ticker, buy it blindly and assume I'm recommending it.
I'm not.
One Green Friday Doesn't Mean the Bull Market Is Back
Today's move was encouraging, but I'm not going to extrapolate one trading session into a grand prediction about where Bitcoin goes next.
Bitcoin has just navigated a difficult combination of higher rates, a stronger dollar, geopolitical uncertainty and the CLARITY Act setback. CoinDesk noted today that BTC has nevertheless remained relatively resilient through September.
That's interesting.
It doesn't make the market predictable.
So I'm going to continue doing what I've been doing: watching the market, looking for setups, taking the ones that make sense to me and leaving the others alone.
Some will work.
Some won't.
And that's exactly what I want this journal to document.
Not screenshots of miraculous gains.
Not promises.
Not predictions presented as certainties.
Just what I'm seeing, what I'm doing, what I'm learning — and what actually happens afterward.
Today was a good day.
Tomorrow, the scoreboard goes back to zero.
This article documents my personal experience and market observations. Nothing in this article should be considered financial advice. Cryptocurrencies are highly volatile, and leveraged derivatives involve significant risk, including the potential loss of the entire position.
