Liquidations jump to $547 million as oil rally hits crypto market
Bitcoin fell below $84,000 as oil climbed on Iranian tanker attacks, while smaller tokens fell harder and liquidations rose to $547 million.
Liquidations surge as traders stay cautious: Futures trading volume rose 16% to $182.85 billion over the past 24 hours, while open interest (OI) slipped just 1% to $152.60 billion. Liquidations jumped 216% to $548 million, and shorts accounted for over 52% of taker volume. Rising volume with flat OI and a seller-heavy tape points to active repositioning rather than fresh bullish bets.
Bitcoin leverage demand remains weak: BTC futures OI rose to 660,000 BTC, extending its recovery from an 11-month low of 626,000 BTC on Sept. 30. That's still far below the record high of 800,000 BTC set earlier this year. The rebound is too small to signal a return of leveraged bullish bets.
Whales split across exchanges: Whale accounts and positions on Binance lean bullish on BTC, while those on OKX are bearish to neutral, according to Coinglass. On Binance, the whale bias is bearish for ETH, SOL and XRP. The mixed signals suggest big players aren't aligned on direction.
Ether OI challenges its downtrend: Ether futures OI jumped to 13.22 million ETH from 12.5 million a day earlier. If the gain holds, it would mark a clear break above the downtrend line from the May peak of around 15.95 million ETH, a sign that traders are returning to ether.
STX leads altcoin gains with fresh longs: Stacks' STX is the best performer among the top 100 coins over 24 hours, up nearly 6%. Its futures OI rose 3%, and a price gain alongside rising OI suggests new long positions. AVAX and DOT also posted notable OI gains.
Funding and order flow tilt bearish: Perpetual funding rates for majors, including bitcoin and ether, have turned slightly negative, meaning shorts are paying longs to hold their positions. The 24-hour cumulative volume delta (CVD) for majors is also negative, showing sellers are more aggressive, hitting bids with market orders.
Crypto volatility stays calm as bond market stirs: Bitcoin's and ether's 30-day implied volatility indices remain near year-to-date lows, and Wall Street's VIX is also near its yearly lows, even as bond market volatility rises. Some observers expect the gap to close. Low implied volatility keeps options cheap for traders looking to hedge.
Bitcoin options traders keep chasing upside: On Deribit, bitcoin calls at strikes above $80,000 continue to dominate 24-hour trading volume. Skews remain largely neutral even as analysts stay optimistic about further gains. Ether options show a similar pattern.
