bitcoin and ether (ETH) consolidated during Asian and European hours after recovering on Tuesday following a weaker-than-expected US inflation figure.
Bitcoin, although up more than 3% in 24 hours, fell 0.6% since midnight UTC as tensions between Iran and the United States increased over oil tanker movements in the Strait of Hormuz. The largest cryptocurrency previously hit a three-week high of $65,200.
Ether marked a similar trajectory, staying 5% higher in 24 hours, even after falling 0.8% since midnight. On Tuesday it touched $1,895, the highest level since June 3.
U.S. stocks also rose during the period, with Nasdaq 100 futures and S&P 500 futures posting respective gains of 0.53% and 0.22%.
The altcoin market also showed pockets of strength; PUMP rose 8.5% since midnight after investors removed a team and an investor unlock, suggesting solid demand.
Derivatives positioning
- The positioning of BTC derivatives remains largely unchanged. Open interest rose to $17.3 billion, although the move is not significant, the three-month annualized basis remained at 3.8% and funding rates were broadly in the 0% to 8% annualized range across multiple locations. In essence, the market continues to consolidate.
- Options positioning tilted more bullish as the 24-hour call/put ratio moved to 66/34 after yesterday’s softer reading of 58/42 and the one-week delta bias remained stable at ~15%. The ATM term structure remains in contango, with the front end around 32%-33% and the long end at ~42.5% through mid-2027, indicating a calm and stress-free volatility environment with a renewed tilt towards upside positioning.
- Coinglass data shows $357 million in 24-hour liquidations, with a 19-81 split between long and short positions. ETH ($132 million) and BTC ($118 million) were the leaders in terms of notional settlements.
- The Binance liquidation heatmap indicates $63,500 as the central liquidation level to monitor in case of a price drop.
symbolic talk
- CoinMarketCap’s “Altcoin Season” indicator fell to 46/100 on Wednesday, likely due to the strength shown by the largest cryptocurrencies, bitcoin and ether.
- The indicator was also dragged down by which lost around 1% since midnight UTC despite the overall market buoyancy.
- Hyperliquid (HYPE) demonstrated its strength, adding 4% since midnight, as it looks to extend the May rally, which has been characterized by a series of higher highs and higher lows. The next target would be an all-time high above $78.00.
- HYPE’s rival token LIT stalled after a strong month, rising just 0.5% as it began to experience profit-taking and supply distribution as it approached its all-time high of $2.76.
- There was also a strong gain for zcash (ZEC), which rose more than 10% in the last 24 hours before consolidating around $557.
