Bitcoin Holds $103K as Altcoins Lag and Traders Hedge Downside

Bitcoin BTC$103,064.19 is holding around $103,000 having rebounded from Wednesday’s sub-$100,000 level. The CoinDesk 20 Index (CD20) is up 1.8% in 24 hours.

Still, the largest cryptocurrency remains in a technical downtrend from the Oct. 6 record high of $126,000, having formed a lower high at $116,000 as well as consecutive lower lows.

The altcoin market has fared even worse, demonstrated by bitcoin dominance ticking back up to 60% after dropping to 57% in September.

Several tokens remain well below critical levels of support including ENA$0.3210 and APT$2.6181, both of which posted declines of more than 20% over the past week.

The recent sell-off was spurred by strength in the U.S. dollar following murmurs of indecision from the Federal Reserve in terms of the rate cutting cycle.

Derivatives Positioning

By Omkar Godbole

• Over $300 million in leveraged crypto futures bets were liquidated in 24 hours, mostly shorts.
• Zcash ZEC$518.02 leads growth in open interest (OI), while BTC and ETH show muted activity.
• OI in futures for prominent altcoins like XRP has declined, while non-serious tokens like PUMP are experiencing double-digit increases, a dynamic often seen before market drops.
• ZEC’s funding rates remain deeply negative, indicating a bias toward shorts, possibly as holders hedge against a sudden correction after its strong rally.
• Bitcoin CME futures positioning is light, with OI at its lowest since late September; ether OI has also declined from record highs.
• Near-dated BTC and ETH options on Deribit show downside nervousness: Some BTC traders are buying $80,000 put options.

Token Talk

By Francisco Rodrigues

• A new governance proposal on decentralized exchange Hyperliquid is drawing sharp debate across the protocol’s community channels.
• Known as HIP-5, the proposal seeks to set aside a slice of exchange revenue to support a wider set of ecosystem tokens, potentially altering the protocol’s existing fee-distribution model.
• Right now, 99% of Hyperliquid’s revenue is used to buy back its native token, HYPE. HIP-5 would instead carve out up to 5% of total protocol fees for a second assistance fund, AF2. That fund would purchase tokens from emerging projects in the Hyperliquid ecosystem, such as PURR, Kinetiq and Felix.
• Decisions on which tokens to support, and in what amounts, would be made by HYPE stakers through governance votes. The impact is estimated to be a $150,000 daily reduction in HYPE buybacks.
• Critics argue that opening up protocol revenue to outside projects could invite abuse. One user, Altoshi, said on X that HIP-5 “may lead to bribery” and could mirror governance issues seen in Cosmos and Polkadot, where some token holders accused insiders of draining DAO treasuries.
• Others say the plan could boost developer activity on Hyperliquid and increase governance participation. The proposal hasn’t gone to a formal vote yet.