Bitcoin Falls Below $91K as Asia-Led Selling Hits Crypto
Bitcoin erased last week’s gains, sliding to $90,258 as Asia-driven selling pressured the crypto market alongside weaker U.S. equity futures. The decline wiped out BTC’s rise from $98,000, highlighting ongoing volatility.
Most of the selling occurred during the Asia session, starting around 01:15 UTC and stabilizing by 07:00 UTC. Privacy-focused coins bore the brunt: Monero (XMR) dropped 9% to $515, and Dash (DASH) fell 3% to $69.44, reflecting cooling trader interest after a strong start to the year.
The crypto selloff mirrored U.S. equity futures, with Nasdaq 100 down 1.9% and S&P 500 futures off 1.6%, as U.S.-EU trade tensions over Greenland continued to unsettle markets. Safe-haven assets extended gains, with gold and silver reaching record highs.
Derivatives and Market Sentiment
- More than $360 million in crypto futures were liquidated over 24 hours, mostly long positions.
- Bitcoin’s 30-day implied volatility (BVIV) rose to 42% from 39.7%, showing renewed demand for options and hedging.
- DOGE, ZEC, and ADA led declines in futures open interest, while BTC remained stable.
- Funding rates remain positive for most major tokens, though ZEC and TRX show heavy bearish positioning.
- On Deribit, BTC and Ether (ETH $3,000.50) put options trade above calls; on Derive, traders price a 30% chance of BTC dropping below $80,000.
Altcoins Struggle
Ethereum and Solana (SOL $130.22) lost over 3%, while DeFi tokens AERO and SKY fell more than 5.5%. The CoinDesk Memecoin Index (CDMEME) slipped 3.91%, underperforming broader benchmarks.
Analysts say Bitcoin’s next move will determine altcoin stability. Consolidation between $85,000 and $95,000 could stabilize markets, while a drop below $85,000 risks widespread losses, as liquidity remains fragile after October’s $19 billion liquidation cascade.
