Crypto Market Update: Bitcoin Slips Despite Powell Boost; Ether Derivatives Hit Records
Market Overview
Despite Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell’s dovish comments last Friday, Bitcoin has failed to sustain its rally, pulling back to levels seen before the speech and reinforcing bearish sentiment.
At the time of writing, Bitcoin (BTC) is trading around $109,644, down from its Friday peak near $117,440. If support at $107,500 fails, further downside is likely, according to technical indicators.
Meanwhile, Ether (ETH) has seen heightened activity in both futures and options markets, signaling growing investor interest—even as the broader crypto market faces pressure.
BTC Under Pressure as “Sell the Rally” Sentiment Builds
Despite positive macro signals, Bitcoin’s inability to hold gains has highlighted market weakness. Analysts suggest the “sell-the-rally” mindset continues to dominate.
BTC dominance has dropped from 60% to 57% over the past few days, reflecting a shift in capital toward Ether. Singapore-based QCP Capital noted that if ETH staking ETFs are approved later this year, this rotation could intensify.
Technical setup:
- Support: $107,500, with additional zones at $100,887 and $100,000
- Resistance: $117,440, $120,000, and $122,056
Derivatives Data: Diverging Trends Between BTC and ETH
- Bitcoin futures open interest rose from ~260K BTC to 282K BTC, even as prices fell — an indication of traders shorting into strength.
- Ether’s open interest, on the other hand, increased during the rally and eased on the pullback, suggesting a healthy pause rather than bearish reversal.
Most tokens showed positive funding rates, implying a slight bullish bias, with ADA being a notable exception.
Altcoin leverage is also surging, with $9.2B in futures open interest added in one day, pushing combined altcoin OI to a new high of $61.7B, according to Glassnode.
Institutional Participation Rising in Ether Markets
- CME ETH options reached a new notional open interest record of $1B.
- ETH futures OI has now crossed 2 million ETH.
- BTC options OI climbed to $4.85B, the highest since April.
- On Deribit, BTC options lean bearish (more puts), while ETH options favor calls.
Hyperliquid Hits All-Time High in Spot Volume
Hyperliquid posted a record $3.4B in 24-hour spot trading volume, including $1.5B in BTC trades alone, making it the second-largest BTC spot venue globally.
Built on its own Layer-1 infrastructure (HyperCore) and compatible with Ethereum Virtual Machine (HyperEVM), Hyperliquid delivers sub-second finality and high throughput, appealing to institutional and DeFi users alike.
Already dominant in the DEX perpetuals market (60–70% share), Hyperliquid’s growing spot activity bolsters its role as a leading liquidity provider.
HYPE token holders benefit directly, as rising volume funds regular buybacks via the Assistance Fund, tying platform growth to long-term token value.
