- Bitcoin traded mostly flat Monday after a roughly 24% weekly surge, with investors taking a breather following a Treasury buyback announcement that helped trigger more than $3 billion in short liquidations.
- BTC was hovering around $77,800 in morning trading, little changed since midnight UTC as the market digested its strongest weekly advance in more than three years.
- Bitcoin jumped from below $63,000 to record a 24% weekly gain, its best result since March 2023. The move followed the Treasury’s decision to double buybacks of long-term bonds, breaking BTC out of a six-week range and forcing more than $3 billion in short positions to unwind within 24 hours.
- Crypto and gold continued to outperform stocks. Gold added roughly 0.8% Monday and remained near record highs as Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent’s debt-management strategy kept attention on long-term yields. The 30-year Treasury yield had briefly reached a 19-year high before retreating after the buyback announcement.
- Altcoins were mostly unchanged to slightly lower, suggesting the market was consolidating rather than reversing. Bitcoin dominance remained near 59.2%, while the Altcoin Season Index climbed to 42 from 33 on Friday. The reading still favors Bitcoin, indicating that last week’s altcoin rally was selective rather than a broad rotation.
Derivatives Market
- Bitcoin open interest falls as prices climb: BTC futures open interest dropped to 715,000 BTC, a two-month low, from 762,000 BTC on Aug. 18, according to CoinGlass. The decline suggests that spot demand and short covering, rather than fresh leveraged longs, were behind much of last week’s rally.
- ETH, SOL and XRP follow the same pattern: Futures open interest also declined for Ether, Solana and XRP while their prices advanced, pointing to similar spot-led moves.
- Zcash takes the opposite path: ZEC futures open interest rose to 2.24 million tokens from 1.81 million a week earlier, while the token gained more than 70%. When open interest and price rise together, traders often interpret it as confirmation of a strengthening trend.
- ZEC buying remains aggressive: Zcash posted the most positive OI-adjusted weekly cumulative volume delta among major cryptocurrencies, indicating that buyers were actively pushing prices higher through market orders.
- Funding rates remain contained: Annualized funding rates for Bitcoin, Ether and other major tokens stayed around 10%. The figures point to a preference for long positions but do not suggest excessive leverage.
- Bitcoin volatility jumps: BTC’s 30-day implied volatility, measured by BVIV, increased to 47% annualized from 36% a week earlier. The sharp rise is notable because implied volatility is often used as a gauge of market anxiety and typically climbs during selloffs. Ether’s EVIV has also risen.
- Options market shows guarded bullishness: Short-term call-put skew on Deribit turned positive, meaning calls are more expensive than puts. At the same time, 24-hour trading activity remained mixed, with the $70,000 put among the most active contracts alongside several calls. The setup points to optimism, but not aggressive conviction.
Token Moves
- Hyperliquid (HYPE): HYPE slipped 3.3% to around $79.59 after hitting a record $83.30 late Sunday. The token was one of last week’s biggest gainers and remains up about 28% over seven days.
- Aave (AAVE): AAVE fell 0.6% to approximately $140.68 but remains more than 62% higher over the week. Trading activity stayed elevated as DeFi assets benefited from the broader risk-on sentiment.
- XRP: XRP dropped 2.8% to $1.48, giving back part of Friday’s gains. Despite Monday’s pullback, it remains up about 47% over seven days and has outpaced most large-cap tokens.
- Morpho (MORPHO): MORPHO declined 6.2% to roughly $2.73. Despite the daily drop, the token was still up 18% over 24 hours and 33% over the week, pointing to profit-taking after its recent rally.
- Ethena (ENA): ENA was one of the week’s strongest performers, doubling to $1.79 after recovering from a prolonged decline that had erased more than 90% of its value.
