Bitcoin and ether (ETH) consolidated in Asian and European hours after rallying on Tuesday following a weaker-than-expected US inflation number.
Bitcoin, while up more than 3% in 24 hours, fell 0.6% since midnight UTC as tensions between Iran and the US over tanker movements in the Strait of Hormuz rose. The largest cryptocurrency earlier hit a three-week high of $65,200.
Ether charted a similar trajectory, remaining 5% higher over 24 hours, even after falling 0.8% since midnight. It touched $1,895, the highest level since June 3, on Tuesday.
US stocks also rose during the period, with Nasdaq 100 futures and S&P 500 futures up 0.53% and 0.22% respectively.
The altcoin market also showed pockets of strength; PUMP is up 8.5% since midnight after a team and investor unlock was wiped out by investors, suggesting robust demand.
Derivatives positioning
- BTC derivative positioning remains largely unchanged. Open interest ticked up to $17.3 billion, although the move is not meaningful, the three-month annual basis held at 3.8% and funding rates remained largely in the 0%-8% annualized range across multiple venues. Essentially, the market continues to consolidate
- Options positioning tipped more bullish as the 24-hour call/put ratio moved to 66/34 following yesterday’s softer 58/42 reading, and one-week delta bias held steady at ~15%. The ATM futures structure remains in contango, with the front end around 32%-33% and the long end at ~42.5% through mid-2027 – indicating a calm, non-stressed volatility environment with a renewed tilt towards upside positioning.
- Coinglass data shows $357 million in 24-hour liquidations, with a 19-81 split between longs and shorts. ETH ($132 million) and BTC ($118 million) led the way in fictitious liquidations.
- The Binance liquidation heatmap indicates $63,500 as a core liquidation level to monitor in case of a price drop.
Token talk
- CoinMarketCap’s “Altcoin Season” indicator fell to 46/100 on Wednesday, likely due to the strength shown by the major cryptocurrencies, bitcoin and ether.
- The indicator was also pulled down which lost about 1% since midnight UTC despite buoyancy in the broader market.
- Hyperliquid (HYPE) demonstrated its strength, adding 4% since midnight as it looks to extend corn’s rally, which has been characterized by a series of higher highs and higher lows. The next target would be an all-time high above $78.00.
- HYPE’s rival token, LIT, stalled after a strong month, rising just 0.5% as it began to experience profit-taking and supply distribution as it neared its all-time high of $2.76.
- There was also a strong gain for zcash (ZEC), which rose more than 10% over the last 24 hours before consolidating around $557.
