Major cryptocurrencies eased from overnight highs during Asia trading, with bitcoin holding above a key support level even as investor sentiment remains firmly bearish.
During Asian hours, the crypto market stayed above critical price floors, with bitcoin trading around $78,400 and ether near $2,290. Momentum faded after midnight UTC as major tokens gave back part of their earlier gains.
While U.S. equities and precious metals advanced, crypto lagged, highlighting continued relative weakness across digital assets. Investor sentiment remains deeply negative, with the Fear and Greed Index at 17 out of 100 — a reading of “extreme fear” — as traders increasingly view October’s highs as the peak of the previous bull cycle and the subsequent decline as a shift into a bear market.
Some analysts believe the downturn could be short-lived, citing a potential bitcoin price floor near $60,000. Others are more cautious. A CryptoQuant analyst warned that market structure continues to deteriorate, leaving downside risks unresolved.
One notable outlier has been HyperLiquid’s HYPE token, which has climbed more than 70% over the past week. The rally has coincided with a surge in volume in HyperLiquid’s silver futures market, pointing to increased retail participation.
Derivatives positioning
Bitcoin’s annualized 30-day implied volatility remains above its 200-day simple moving average, signaling the potential for further price swings. Ether shows a similar volatility profile.
More than $300 million in leveraged crypto futures positions were liquidated over the past 24 hours, though notional open interest across crypto futures has stabilized near multi-month lows of around $110 billion.
Open interest in futures tied to major cryptocurrencies — including BTC, ETH, SOL, and XRP — declined over the past day. In contrast, HYPE futures saw open interest rise nearly 20%, suggesting fresh bullish positioning.
Perpetual futures funding rates for major tokens remain slightly positive, indicating a muted bullish bias. On Deribit, put option premiums for bitcoin and ether softened modestly from Monday’s levels, though puts remain more expensive across multiple expiries, reflecting ongoing demand for downside protection.
Block trading activity showed demand for bitcoin strangles — a volatility-focused strategy — and ether risk reversals, commonly used for low-cost hedging.
Token moves
HYPE continued to outperform, supported by rising volumes and revenue, while parts of the broader altcoin market rebounded. Polygon’s POL token, along with LIT and MORPHO, posted gains of up to 13% over the past 24 hours.
The advances followed a low-liquidity weekend selloff that pushed several assets into oversold territory. In thin trading conditions, limited order-book depth can amplify price moves, particularly in altcoins.
Privacy-focused tokens Monero (XMR) and Zcash (ZEC) failed to extend their early-year strength, falling more than 20% over the past week and another 3.5% since midnight.
Another relative outperformer has been Canton’s CC token, which rose 28% over the past week amid growing institutional interest. Canton is a privacy-enabled layer-1 blockchain designed for institutional finance and real-world asset tokenization. In December, market infrastructure firm DTCC announced a partnership with Canton to tokenize U.S. Treasury securities on the blockchain.
