Bitcoin traded near $110,984, down about 0.7% over 24 hours and roughly 0.9% since midnight UTC, while the CoinDesk 20 Index slipped about 1.3%. Most large caps fell; XRP was the lone small gainer, up under 0.1%. The mood on-chain and on exchanges is cautiously bearish, with options and perpetual-futures markets echoing that sentiment.
Derivatives positioning
Perpetual futures open interest across major venues eased from a recent peak near $33 billion to about $30 billion, signaling slightly reduced leverage. The three‑month annualized basis has compressed to roughly 5%–6% on Binance, OKX and Deribit, making the carry trade only marginally profitable. Funding-rate APRs sit around 4%–6% annualized per Velo data; Hyperliquid is a notable outlier above 6%.
Options flows show mixed signals. Open interest is tilted toward puts with clustering around the $105,000–$110,000 strikes — an indication that traders are buying downside protection — while the implied-volatility term structure remains upward sloping (longer-term vols higher). Paradoxically, 24‑hour call volume accounted for a larger share of contracts (about 63%), suggesting short-term speculative buying amid a cautious backdrop.
Short-term price risk is visible in liquidation and heatmap data: Coinglass reports roughly $225 million of 24‑hour liquidations, split evenly between longs and shorts, led by ETH ($65M) and BTC ($46M). Binance’s liquidation heatmap highlights $110,250 as a core level to watch if selling accelerates. More than $4.5 billion of options on Deribit will expire on Friday, coinciding with the U.S. jobs report — a potential catalyst for added volatility.
Token note
On the alt side, the Trump‑linked DeFi token World Liberty Financial (WLFI) plunged to a record low of $0.174, down ~21% in a day, as early investors took profits after the token sale. The project’s pledge that team treasury tokens won’t be sold failed to staunch the decline; large swings and speculative flows remain likely until sustained development and on‑chain activity emerge.
Why this matters: Derivatives positioning shows market participants seeking protection while liquidity and funding conditions are stable but not exuberant. Traders should be prepared for outsized moves around major expiries and macro releases. This is market commentary, not investment advice; crypto markets are volatile and losses can be rapid.
Source: CoinDesk. Read the original coverage for full details.