Crypto Markets Steady as Traders Rebuild Positions Ahead of Fed Meeting

Cryptocurrency markets showed modest gains overnight, with bitcoin up about 0.5% and many altcoins outperforming. Ether rose nearly 1%, while the broader CoinDesk 80 index and the memecoin gauge each posted small advances. The move follows a tech-led selloff in equities that saw the Nasdaq tumble sharply, and market participants are now eyeing the upcoming Federal Reserve meeting and commodity-driven inflation risks.

Asian equity markets were mixed: South Korea’s Kospi ticked higher, China’s CSI 300 climbed, and Japan’s Nikkei slipped slightly. Investors also monitored ETF flows after U.S. spot bitcoin funds recorded notable outflows following earlier weekly inflows, while Brent crude remained elevated near $113 a barrel.

Derivatives positioning and market structure

Futures activity cooled: overall crypto futures volumes declined and liquidations eased after a brief surge, though open interest in bitcoin recovered a bit, suggesting traders are adding positions rather than simply exiting. The taker long/short split favors shorts marginally.

OI-adjusted CVD points to a calmer footprint: cumulative volume delta readings moved closer to neutral for most tokens after yesterday’s negative readings. XAUT remains an outlier with more pronounced selling pressure.

Majors quietly rebuilding: both bitcoin and ether saw small increases in futures open interest while prices stayed relatively flat, implying a measured rebuilding of positions. Liquidations fell substantially in both markets. Bitcoin funding ticked higher, signaling slightly greater cost for longs; ether funding was unchanged.

Funding flips and de-risking in specific tokens: BNB and SUI funding moved from negative to positive, indicating that longs are again paying to hold positions. Conversely, several tokens — notably ZEC, SOL, XRP and DOGE — experienced open-interest contractions that outpaced price drops, pointing to genuine position closures and capital exits.

Commodity perpetuals attracting fresh capital: open interest rose for gold, silver and crude oil contracts. Gold and silver prices slipped even as funding stayed positive (longs paying), while crude oil saw rising OI with a price gain and negative funding (shorts paying). The gold token XAUT showed the deepest negative OI-adjusted CVD, consistent with dominant sell-side pressure.

Monero’s earlier funding surge cooled: XMR’s elevated funding rate has since normalized, reducing the leverage risk flagged earlier.

Options flow highlights directional bets: bitcoin options activity concentrated in upside calls—most-active strikes sat above the market—while ether options showed heavy put activity, led by a near-term $2,200 put. Volume alone does not disclose whether those contracts were bought or sold. The 25-delta skew signals a strong put premium in ether, while bitcoin’s skew has eased from recent highs, implying greater downside concern in ether than in bitcoin.

Token highlights and sector performance

Pepe leads gains: the Ethereum-based memecoin PEPE jumped sharply and topped the CD100, extending weekly and monthly gains despite no clear catalyst. Its 24-hour turnover increased versus the prior day.

Other meme and small-cap tokens posted smaller advances; FLOKI, BONK and SHIB rose modestly but remain lower month-to-date. Layer-1 tokens such as Polkadot and Cosmos gained more than 5%, adding to weekly strength even as DOT remains slightly down for October.

DeFi names recovered after recent declines: Uniswap climbed a few percent and ethena posted a small gain. The weaker members of the CD100 also edged higher but remain deeply negative over the month.

Altcoin season gauge improving: CoinMarketCap’s altcoin season indicator rose, reflecting a gradually more positive sentiment toward altcoins as bitcoin trades in a narrow range.