Bitcoin’s early Thursday rebound faded as rising Treasury yields continued to pressure risk assets, with the 10-year U.S. government bond yield reaching its highest level since 2007.
BTC was trading at $83,344, down 1.23% since midnight UTC after surrendering its earlier gains. The bond market selloff has weighed on cryptocurrencies for a second consecutive day, although buyers in Asian and European markets provided some support.
The decline was broad-based across major cryptocurrencies. Ether fell 1.55% to $2,659.02, XRP dropped 2.87%, and Solana slipped 1.61% to $113.14. Smaller tokens initially recovered during European trading but later came under heavier selling, with NEAR and HYPE falling 3.32% and 3.94%, respectively.
The dollar index gained 0.13% to 101.24, reaching its highest point since July. Gold declined 0.71% to $4,257, while U.S. stock futures pointed lower. S&P 500 futures fell 0.61%, and Nasdaq 100 futures dropped more than 1%.
Derivatives Positioning
Shorts accounted for more than 52% of 24-hour taker volume, which increased 10% to $250 billion. At the same time, total open interest declined nearly 6% to $149 billion. The combination of rising trading volume, falling OI and a short-heavy flow suggests existing positions are being closed rather than traders aggressively adding new shorts.
Bitcoin futures open interest dropped 6% while BTC declined 3% over the same 24-hour period. Because OI is calculated on a notional basis, the larger decline indicates that contracts are actually being closed. This points toward meaningful long-position unwinding rather than simply a buildup of fresh bearish bets.
Large Binance accounts are showing a somewhat different positioning pattern. The whale long/short account ratio has returned above 1 at 1.30, while the whale position ratio has remained below 2 for a second consecutive day. This suggests larger traders are either staying cautious or positioning against the broader selling pressure.
XRP is displaying a pattern similar to bitcoin, with its notional OI declining faster than its price. That indicates genuine position closures. For ETH and SOL, the drop in OI has been broadly proportional to their price declines, suggesting existing positions are mainly losing value rather than being aggressively liquidated.
The 24-hour OI-adjusted cumulative volume delta is negative across major cryptocurrencies, including BTC and ETH. This indicates that aggressive selling has exceeded aggressive buying. XRP, SUI and AVAX have posted some of the weakest readings, showing where selling pressure is most concentrated.
Litecoin remains an exception. LTC has gained nearly 8% over 24 hours, while futures open interest measured in tokens has risen to 8.96 million, the highest since Jan. 18. OI has increased steadily since Sept. 19. Rising price and rising coin-denominated OI together indicate fresh long positioning rather than simply short covering.
Despite the decline in spot markets, implied volatility remains relatively stable. Thirty-day BTC and ETH implied volatility indices are holding within recent ranges, while short-term implied volatility remains inexpensive compared with realized volatility. Options markets therefore have not reflected a major panic response.
Bitcoin’s one-week options skew has turned positive, signaling greater demand for downside protection. Ether has experienced a similar shift, reinforcing the defensive tone in derivatives markets.
More than $17 billion in BTC and ETH options are set to expire on Deribit Friday, with most contracts currently in the money. Traders will be watching whether these positions are rolled into later expiries or settled, as either outcome could contribute to increased volatility heading into the weekend.
Token Movers
Litecoin continued to hold its gains despite weakness across the broader market. LTC was up 8.1% since midnight UTC and 6.2% over the rolling 24-hour period. The move comes as traders position ahead of next July’s block reward halving, with historical market bottoms generally forming six to 12 months before halvings.
Ethereum Classic climbed 7.6% to $9.42, while Morpho rose 4.1% to $2.67.
Selling was particularly strong among tokens that had rallied earlier in the week. Venice, an AI inference token, fell 5.2% since midnight and 9.6% over 24 hours to $28.71. Lighter declined 4.2% since midnight and 2.1% over 24 hours to $5.09, while Pump.fun fell 4.1% on the day and 11% over the rolling 24-hour period.
Hyperliquid declined 3.9% to $90.39, while NEAR dropped 3.1% to $4.20. Venice was down 8.7% over 24 hours despite ranking among the strongest performers earlier in the week.
Among the major cryptocurrencies, XRP and Bitcoin Cash recorded the largest losses. Both fell 2.7% since midnight UTC, reaching $1.46 and $328.56, respectively. XRP was down 8.3% over 24 hours, while Bitcoin Cash declined 6.8%, reversing some of the gains posted after Wednesday’s CME futures announcement.
