Bitcoin It holds around $103,000 after rebounding from Wednesday’s sub-$100,000 level. The CoinDesk 20 Index (CD20) is up 1.8% in 24 hours.
Nonetheless, the largest cryptocurrency remains in a technical downtrend from the Oct. 6 record high of $126,000, having formed a high below $116,000 as well as consecutive lows.
The altcoin market fared even worse, as evidenced by bitcoin’s dominance returning to 60% after dropping to 57% in September.
Several tokens remain well below critical support levels, including And both of which posted declines of more than 20% over the past week.
The recent sell-off was driven by the strength of the US dollar following murmurs of indecision from the Federal Reserve regarding the rate cut cycle.
Positioning of derivative products
By Omkar Godbole
- More than $300 million in leveraged cryptocurrency futures bets were liquidated in 24 hours, mostly short positions.
- Zcash leads the growth in open interest (OI), while BTC and ETH show moderate activity.
- OI in futures for top altcoins like XRP has declined, while non-serious tokens like PUMP are seeing double-digit increases, a dynamic often seen before the market crash.
- ZEC funding rates remain deeply negative, indicating a bias toward short selling, perhaps because holders are hedging against a sudden correction after its strong rally.
- CME Bitcoin futures positioning is light, with OI at its lowest since late September; RO ether has also declined from record levels.
- Nearly dated BTC and ETH options on Deribit show downside nervousness: Some BTC traders are buying $80,000 puts.
Symbolic discussion
By Francisco Rodrigues
- A new governance proposal on decentralized exchange Hyperliquid is sparking heated debate in the protocol’s community channels.
- Known as HIP-5, the proposal aims to set aside a share of exchange revenue to support a broader set of ecosystem tokens, potentially changing the protocol’s existing fee distribution model.
- Currently, 99% of Hyperliquid’s revenue is used to redeem its native token, HYPE. HIP-5 would instead dedicate up to 5% of total protocol fees to a second support fund, AF2. This fund would purchase tokens from emerging projects in the Hyperliquid ecosystem, such as PURR, Kinetiq and Felix.
- Decisions on which tokens to support and in what amounts would be made by HYPE stakeholders through governance votes. The impact is estimated at a daily reduction of $150,000 in HYPE redemptions.
- Critics argue that opening the protocol’s revenues to outside projects could invite abuse. One user, Altoshi, said on
- Others say the plan could boost developer activity on Hyperliquide and increase participation in governance. The proposal has not yet been put to a formal vote.
