Bitcoin rebounded from approximately $75,200 following Thursday’s sharp sell-off driven by concerns surrounding the AI sector. The downturn triggered more than $1 billion in leveraged crypto liquidations, while traders shifted their focus toward the upcoming U.S. employment report.
BTC rose 0.2% to around $76,150 since midnight UTC on Friday, recovering from a late Thursday decline to nearly $75,200 around 23:00 UTC. Ether (ETH) also gained 0.3%, while the CoinDesk 80 Index advanced by the same percentage. The CoinDesk Memecoin Index led the recovery with a 4% increase.
The rebound followed Thursday’s broader market weakness, when the Nasdaq Composite dropped 5.5%. Investors grew concerned that Democrats’ control of Congress could slow the expansion of AI data centers, putting pressure on technology stocks and other risk-sensitive assets.
Cryptocurrencies also suffered from the downturn, with CoinGlass reporting more than $1 billion in leveraged liquidations over 24 hours. Bitcoin lost 5.3% during that period, while Ether declined 7.3%.
Spot Bitcoin ETFs experienced another round of substantial withdrawals. According to Farside Investors, Fidelity’s FBTC recorded approximately $200 million in outflows, while BlackRock’s IBIT saw $105 million leave the fund. The latest withdrawals extended IBIT’s consecutive outflow streak to five trading sessions.
Investors are now watching the U.S. employment report, due at 8:30 a.m. EST (13:30 UTC). FactSet’s economist survey points to an expected increase of 65,000 jobs in October, making the report an important indicator for market expectations.
Bitcoin Derivatives Data Signals Cautious Trading
Bitcoin futures open interest climbed to $22.1 billion from $21.8 billion, even as derivatives markets recorded $1.27 billion in liquidations over 24 hours. Approximately $1.1 billion of the liquidated positions were long bets.
The increase in open interest suggests that traders began rebuilding leveraged positions after the liquidation event rather than simply adding fresh exposure. Funding rates also fluctuated sharply, briefly falling to an annualized -5% on Bybit before returning to a range of 0%–5% on other exchanges.
Bitcoin’s three-month futures basis remained unchanged at approximately 5.7%.
Options markets showed signs of increased demand for downside protection. The 24-hour put-to-call volume ratio reached approximately 51:48, indicating a slight preference for put options. Meanwhile, the one-week 25-delta skew increased to around 15%, compared with approximately 11% a week earlier.
The implied volatility curve remained in contango. Short-term volatility approached 50% amid recent market turbulence, while longer-dated contracts extending through late 2027 remained around 38%–40%.
Liquidation levels are also providing important price references. Binance’s liquidation heatmap highlighted a significant concentration of leveraged long positions between $74,000 and $75,000. A further Bitcoin decline could expose this liquidity zone to forced selling.
On the upside, traders are monitoring the $76,800–$77,000 range as a key area that could become relevant if the recovery continues.
WLFI Gains as Zcash Activates NU7 Upgrade
World Liberty Financial’s WLFI token advanced approximately 3.5% since midnight UTC after the Trump-backed crypto project announced plans to increase token buybacks.
The proposed purchases will receive partial funding from fees generated by the reserves supporting its USD1 stablecoin. However, WLFI remains down approximately 10% since Tuesday’s midterm elections and has lost more than 66% this year. The official Trump (TRUMP) token also touched a new record low during the week.
Privacy-focused cryptocurrencies performed relatively better during Thursday’s market decline. Monero (XMR) slipped 3.2% over 24 hours, compared with Bitcoin’s 5.3% loss.
Zcash (ZEC) activated its NU7 network upgrade early Friday, reducing the target interval between blocks from 75 seconds to 25 seconds. The token gained around 1% following the upgrade.
Hyperliquid’s HYPE token remained under pressure, trading approximately 19% below its $96 peak from the previous week. The earlier rally followed an agreement between ICE and Trade[XYZ] to bring Hyperliquid-based perpetual futures to U.S. retail investors. However, the initial excitement surrounding the development has since weakened.
Injective (INJ) was among the stronger performers, rising 14% over the week. Its gains followed Nasdaq’s approval of the listing of Canary Capital’s staked INJ ETF, according to an SEC filing.
Meanwhile, the broader altcoin market continued to show weak speculative demand. CoinMarketCap’s Altcoin Season Index stood at 44 out of 100, its lowest reading since September, suggesting that investor interest in smaller cryptocurrencies remains subdued.
