Crypto Markets Retreat as Global Stocks Slip; Derivatives Show Shifting Sentiment

Bitcoin slid toward the low $80,000s on Thursday, dipping briefly below $79,700 before finding support; the coin traded around $80,073. Bitcoin’s pullback coincided with broader weakness across altcoins, including ether, which traded near $2,322 after a decline, and memecoins, which underperformed the rest of the market.

Global equities added pressure to risk markets. South Korea’s Kospi led losses as Samsung Electronics plunged despite reporting a record quarterly profit, while U.S. futures fell after Alphabet missed expectations. The Federal Reserve kept rates unchanged this week, though a couple of policymakers preferred a hike and the Chair offered no clear signal for December. Investors now await the September PCE inflation report, the Fed’s favored inflation gauge.

Flows, futures and funding

U.S. spot bitcoin ETFs recorded another day of inflows, taking in about $137 million on Wednesday — the third consecutive day of positive net flows — contributing to roughly $424 million added over that span. Across futures markets, trading activity rose sharply: 24-hour crypto futures volume climbed over 20% to roughly $199 billion, while open interest eased slightly, implying active position turnover as traders closed and reopened exposure. Liquidations surged, and the taker-side split remained nearly balanced between longs and shorts.

• BTC & ETH futures: Bitcoin’s price fell about 1.6% with futures open interest down modestly, suggesting exposure tightened alongside the selloff rather than a mass exodus. Ether’s price dropped around 2.1% while its open interest edged lower as well. Funding rates for both remain positive but have cooled from yesterday, signaling a fading bullish tilt in perpetual contracts.
• BNB inflows despite price weakness: BNB saw open interest increase while its price eased, indicating fresh capital entered the contracts. Volume jumped dramatically, and funding flipped to negative — the most negative among the majors — which implies perp traders are leaning toward shorts paying longs.
• ZEC unwind: Zcash experienced a double-digit decline in open interest after its price fell, unwinding the prior day’s build. Funding remains positive, so longs still pay shorts despite the pullback.
• Funding trend: Most major tokens keep positive funding but at lower rates than 24 hours earlier, meaning longs are paying less to maintain positions and the overall perpetual-market bullishness is cooling. Monero stands out as the most positive funding case.
• CVD shifts: The 24-hour open-interest–adjusted cumulative volume delta turned negative for nearly every major coin, indicating that sell-side market orders outweighed buy-side orders relative to open interest; NEAR showed one of the largest intraday negative moves.
• GOOGL perpetuals spike: The perpetual tied to Alphabet’s shares saw open interest jump substantially while its price slumped and volume multiplied, reflecting heightened derivatives activity after the earnings miss.
• Options flow: On Deribit, the most traded bitcoin option contracts were dominated by calls (notably an $82,500 Oct. 30 call), which signals demand for upside exposure or hedges above spot. In ether options, the top volume contracts were mostly puts with a range of lower strikes, highlighting elevated demand for downside protection.

Token movers and sector performance

AI-related tokens and many DeFi names underperformed the broader market. Several tokens tied to AI infrastructure and decentralized machine-learning projects saw sharp losses following the selloff in tech stocks, while DeFi-specific assets recorded above-average declines.

• AI-linked tokens: NEAR, positioned for AI applications, fell nearly 8%. Bittensor (TAO) also retraced several percent amid the tech-driven weakness.
• DeFi weakness: Raydium, Jito, and Ethena all fell multiple percentage points, outpacing the general market decline.
• Notable decliners: Jasmytcoin plunged about 10% — the largest drop among tracked tokens — while Dash and Pump.fun each lost around 6%.
• Gainers: Tron bucked the trend with a small gain on the day.
• Altcoin breadth: CoinMarketCap’s Altcoin Season index cooled to the mid-50s, down from 60 the prior day, reflecting a relative retreat by altcoins versus bitcoin.

Bottom line: Markets retreated on a mix of disappointing earnings, geopolitical macro cues and cooling derivative indicators. While inflows into U.S. spot bitcoin ETFs persisted, futures and options activity — together with funding rate shifts and negative CVD readings — suggest traders are trimming bullish exposure and repositioning for greater downside protection ahead of key economic data.