Crypto Markets Today: Bitcoin Holds $103K, Altcoins Consolidate on `Fearful' Sentiment
The crypto market remained steady with Bitcoin trading around $103,000 and Ether near $3,500. The market's Fear and Greed index indicated negative sentiment at 25/100. Altcoin market saw varied movements, with AERO dropping 18% after merging with Velodrome, while XRP rose 3.5%. Market volatility persists, with derivatives showing a preference for downside protection strategies. Open interest in crypto markets dropped 1.13%, highlighting low volatility. AERO, STRK, and FET experienced significant declines, while Ether and other major tokens saw minor changes.
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Market Overview
The crypto market continued to establish fresh levels of support on Thursday. Bitcoin (BTC) traded around $103,000, while Ether (ETH) rose less than 1% to $3,500.
The crypto relative strength index (RSI) remains in neutral territory. The Fear and Greed Index, however, printed 25/100, reflecting negative sentiment.
Meanwhile, in the altcoin market, there was more significant price action:
- AERO dropped 18% after announcing a merger with Velodrome.
- STRK and FET both experienced double-digit losses.
- XRP bucked the trend, rising 3.5%, likely fueled by increased options market activity.
The market currently awaits a catalyst to confirm either a potential downtrend from October's record highs or bottoming near $98,000.
Macro Factors and Dollar Strength
The US dollar remains relatively strong, trading around 99.8. A break above 100 could exert downward pressure on risk assets such as cryptocurrencies. Traders and investors are closely watching for macroeconomic developments that could influence the broader market conditions.
Derivatives Positioning
By Omkar Godbole
Both BTC and ETH 30-day implied volatility indexes, as tracked by Volmex, remained within elevated ranges, indicating high volatility expectations due to persistent structural issues.
Futures Market Trends:
- Bitcoin open interest (OI) declined 3.58% to
$66.14 billion. - Liquidations totaled $186.47 million, mostly from long traders anticipating price rallies.
- SOL, HYPE, and DOGE futures saw declines in OI.
- ZEC futures were an exception, experiencing a 4% increase in OI.
On the CME, the 3-month annualized premium for ETH futures dropped below 6%, marking a discount against BTC premiums, which may indicate increased arbitrage opportunities rather than outright bearishness.
On Deribit, non-directional strategies like strangles accounted for 27% of BTC block options flow, highlighting expectations of volatile price movement for the near term. ETH options activity showed interest in put diagonal calendar and call calendar spreads, reinforcing a bias toward protective puts to hedge against downside risk.
Altcoin Market Developments
By Oliver Knight
The altcoin market showed continued consolidation amid persisting low-volatility price action. Key data points from CoinGlass include:
- A 1.13% decline in overall crypto open interest to
$142 billion. - A 25% increase in 24-hour trading volume to
$328 billion, reflecting a preference for spot trading over derivatives.
Ether (ETH) traded relatively unchanged. Other notable movements:
- Solana (SOL), BNB, and TRX declined by 0.2%–1.8%.
- AERO fell by 18.2%, following an announcement to upgrade infrastructure for EVM-compatibility and merge with Velodrome. AERO holders will receive 94.5% of the new unified token, with VELO holders receiving 5.5%.
- STRK and FET posted sharp losses of 13.8% and 11%, though both remain significantly up for the week.