Bitcoin reached a seven-day high on Wednesday as Asian technology stocks rebounded and investors reacted to news that SpaceX and Tesla are considering a merger.
BTC climbed to $83,725.98 before trading near $83,500, marking a 0.6% gain since midnight UTC. Strong corporate earnings in the technology sector helped lift Asian equities and improve sentiment across cryptocurrency markets.
SpaceX and Super Micro Computer (SMCI) provided a boost after posting strong results in the U.S. on Tuesday. South Korea’s Kospi advanced 3.29%, while Nasdaq 100 futures gained 0.44%. Elon Musk said SpaceX and Tesla (TSLA) had formed special committees to examine a potential merger. A combination of the two companies would bring together more than 30,000 BTC worth approximately $2.5 billion.
Other cryptocurrencies also posted gains. Ether (ETH) rose 0.6% to around $2,460, while the CoinDesk 80 index advanced 0.47% and the CoinDesk 5 gained 0.64%. The CoinDesk Memecoin Index climbed 1.2%, outperforming the CoinDesk 100, which added 0.84%.
Meanwhile, Solana’s Alpenglow upgrade is set to launch Wednesday, with a target of reducing transaction finality to approximately 150 milliseconds. Meta Platforms (META) is scheduled to publish its quarterly results after the U.S. market closes.
Futures trading and leverage pick up
Crypto derivatives markets recorded stronger activity over the past 24 hours. Futures trading volume increased 19% to $190 billion, while open interest rose nearly 4% to $145 billion. Liquidations climbed 76% to $284 million. The taker long-to-short volume ratio reached approximately 53% to 47%, showing a modest preference for bullish trades.
Bitcoin and Ether’s price gains have outpaced the growth in some derivatives positions, suggesting that fresh leveraged demand remains limited. BTC advanced 2.6% and ETH gained 3.35% over 24 hours, while futures open interest increased 3% and 2%, respectively. Bitcoin’s price and OI rose at nearly the same pace, indicating little additional capital entering the market. Ether’s slower OI growth may reflect traders reducing their positions in coin terms. Overall, open interest remains well below previous record levels.
Privacy-focused tokens are attracting more leveraged activity. Zcash (ZEC) open interest jumped 24% alongside a 12% price increase, pointing to a buildup of new positions. Its annualized funding rate reached 10%, while its 24-hour open-interest-adjusted cumulative volume delta (CVD) remained negative. This indicates that aggressive selling continued even as ZEC’s price moved higher.
Monero (XMR) open interest climbed 8% to more than $300 million, approaching record territory. The token gained 2% in spot trading, and its funding rate reached 4%. Its CVD remained positive, making it an exception among major cryptocurrencies.
Short sellers in BTW are also facing mounting costs. Its annualized funding rate dropped to minus 77%, suggesting bearish traders are paying a substantial premium to maintain their positions. This imbalance could increase volatility if a sharp price rebound forces short sellers to close their trades. Arbitrum (ARB) and Ethereum Classic (ETC) also recorded slightly negative funding rates.
Options markets signal caution
Bitcoin and Ether volatility expectations have declined. Bitcoin’s 30-day implied volatility index, BVIV, moved below 40%, retreating from a brief rise above 42% on October 15. Ether’s EVIV followed a similar path, suggesting traders expect less dramatic price swings in the near term.
Bitcoin options nevertheless continue to show demand for downside protection. Deribit’s one-month put-call skew stood at 8%, indicating that put options were relatively more expensive than calls. The one-week and three-month readings showed a similar pattern. Despite this defensive bias, calls with strike prices above the current spot price were among the five most actively traded positions. Much of the volume came from complex, multi-leg synthetic strategies rather than outright bullish bets.
Ether options also favored puts, but the bearish tilt was less pronounced than in Bitcoin’s market. ETH options volume suggested a more balanced mix of expectations.
Zcash leads selected altcoin gains
Zcash (ZEC) added 0.9% after midnight UTC, reaching approximately $1,260 and extending its 24-hour advance to around 11%. The rally followed developers’ announcement of a November activation date for the NU7 upgrade. The change will shorten block times from 75 seconds to 25 seconds, making payment confirmations three times faster. It will also direct 60% of transaction fees into a reserve that will be distributed over time. Despite the rebound, ZEC remains down about 12% over the past month.
Near Protocol (NEAR) led the CoinDesk 100, rising 6% to roughly $5.23. Its advance coincided with increased activity in NEAR Intents, a cross-chain swap product that uses part of its fees to support token buybacks. Traders are also monitoring a governance proposal that would lower annual issuance from 2.5% to 1.6% over two years.
Ethena (ENA) climbed 4.8%, recovering some losses after declining approximately 22% over the past month. The token is associated with USDe, a synthetic dollar whose supply remains around $4.7 billion. That figure is still below the $7.5 billion level needed to trigger ENA buybacks.
Aerodrome (AERO) was the CoinDesk 100’s weakest performer, dropping 4.4% and giving back part of its roughly 6% gain over the past week. Morpho (MORPHO) also fell 2.7% as decentralized finance tokens lagged. The sector index rose just 0.22%, compared with a 0.84% advance for the CoinDesk 100.
Injective (INJ) slipped 2.1%, trimming its approximately 18% monthly gain. The token’s recent performance had been supported by pending U.S. exchange-traded fund applications tied to INJ.
