Crypto markets strengthened broadly on Wednesday as bitcoin, ether and most major altcoins rallied, even as Zcash (ZEC) continued its steep weekly downturn.
Bitcoin rose 6.6% over the past 24 hours to reach $93,000, marking a strong rebound from recent lows. Ether also recovered, climbing back above $3,050. The move offered markets a welcome shift in sentiment after several weeks of persistent weakness.
Zcash stood out as the sole major laggard: despite months of strong performance, the token has now plunged more than 38% in the past seven days as traders take profits following an extended rally.
Perpetual futures markets reflected renewed activity. Trading volume across derivatives exchanges increased over 5% to $44 billion in the past day, indicating that the uptick was supported by both spot inflows and fresh leveraged participation.
Open interest (OI) in BTC, ETH and several large-cap tokens rose, suggesting stabilizing demand for leveraged exposure. SUI, SOL, BNB and ADA saw the strongest OI growth. Funding rates largely remained positive, reinforcing the market’s bias toward long positions, with TRX and WLFI as rare outliers.
Institutional derivatives painted a contrasting picture. On the CME, open interest in standard bitcoin futures dropped to 121,670 contracts—its lowest level since February 2024. BTC options OI fell to 46,000 BTC, reversing gains made since early October. Momentum in CME’s regulated markets appears to be fading.
Ether derivatives followed a similar trend: futures OI declined to 1.95 million ETH—its lowest since September—while options OI slid to 275,000 ETH after topping 350,000 earlier this month.
On Deribit, BTC and ETH puts continue to trade at premiums to calls, though the gap has narrowed since Monday. Block trading was dominated by BTC strangles and call butterflies, alongside ether put spreads and call diagonal calendars.
Altcoins outperformed overnight, with several registering double-digit gains and maintaining stronger momentum than bitcoin’s 6.5% advance. SUI and Chainlink’s LINK led the pack, soaring 30.8% and 24%, respectively. The strong upside suggests the downtrend that began in early October may be losing steam and that a bullish reversal remains possible.
Liquidity conditions, however, remain thin. Market depth has not recovered since October’s crash, leaving prices prone to outsized volatility. Any negative catalyst could swiftly drive the market back toward key support levels.
Zcash continued its downturn, falling another 3% in the past 24 hours and extending its week-long slide to 38% as traders unwind gains from its September-to-November surge.
The “altcoin season” index sits at 21/100—near historic lows—indicating that despite isolated pockets of altcoin strength, investors remain primarily focused on bitcoin rather than rotating broadly into higher-risk assets.
