15.10.2025 22:11
Cryptocurrencies found themselves trailing behind the buoyant performance of stocks and gold on Wednesday, reflecting a cautious investor sentiment that is increasingly favoring more traditional safe-haven assets. Bitcoin, the leading digital currency, managed only a modest uptick, hovering at the lower end of its trading spectrum around $112,000. The situation was even more pronounced for altcoins, with FET experiencing a significant decline of 6.2% following Ocean Protocol's announcement of its departure from the ASI Alliance and the subsequent reported offloading of its tokens on Binance. Adding to the downturn, MYX saw a substantial 10% drop, while CAKE dipped by 4%, contributing to a sharp fall in the "altcoin season" index on CoinMarketCap, which plummeted to 38 out of 100 from a healthier 67 earlier in the month, according to internet sources.
In the realm of derivatives, while certain tokens like XPL, ASTER, SUI, and LINK have witnessed an escalation in futures open interest, the performance across the top 10 digital assets remains largely uneven. A significant development was the initiation of a 5x short position on Bitcoin by a large wallet, identified as 0xc2a3, valued at $140 million on the Hyperliquid platform. Furthermore, a substantial influx of $510 million into Bitcoin futures open interest on Binance during Asian trading hours was observed, potentially signaling a trader's preparation for a short position, evidenced by an $89 million transfer of USDC to the exchange. The prevailing flat-to-negative perpetual funding rates for major cryptocurrencies, including bitcoin and ether, underscore a prevailing sense of apprehension among market participants.
Activity in Bitcoin futures on the CME has maintained a subdued profile, contrasting sharply with the record-breaking surge in options open interest, which reached an impressive 61.44K BTC. Similarly, positioning within ether futures and options continues to hover near all-time highs, indicating sustained interest despite the broader market's hesitant trajectory. On the Deribit platform, a slight upward trend in put skew for short-dated and near-term Bitcoin options was noted during overnight trading. Within the over-the-counter (OTC) trading desk Paradigm, a notable flow involved a long position in the October 18 expiry $108K BTC put, suggesting a strategic bet on a significant price dip.
Fetch.ai (FET), trading at $0.3140, has endured a particularly challenging week, shedding an considerable 43% of its value. This substantial depreciation was largely triggered by the sell-off that ensued after Ocean Protocol declared its intention to withdraw from the ASI Alliance. In a public statement on X, the company conveyed, "As many of you have seen, Ocean Protocol has chosen to step away from the ASI Alliance." The announcement was accompanied by observations of considerable market activity involving large…
