Bitcoin volatility has dropped to its lowest level since the Binance hack as BTC recovers toward $78,600. At the same time, Zcash futures open interest has increased 28% ahead of its upcoming NU7 network upgrade.
Bitcoin options traders are reducing the protective positions they established before the US midterm elections. Their decision to unwind election-related hedges has pushed the cryptocurrency’s implied volatility to its weakest level since the Binance security breach, while BTC has climbed back to approximately $78,570.
Deribit’s DVOL index, which measures expected Bitcoin price volatility over a 30-day period, declined to 37.03 earlier today. The index was trading at 40.76 around midday Tuesday when US voters began casting their ballots.
Bitcoin has also recovered from its overnight decline. The cryptocurrency was changing hands at $78,570 on Binance, up 3.7% from its low of $75,736 recorded as election results started coming in.
Elsewhere, derivatives activity across altcoins is picking up. Zcash futures open interest on OKX increased 28% within 24 hours, reaching $196 million approximately 36 hours before the network’s NU7 upgrade.
With the US election uncertainty behind them, traders are now watching whether Bitcoin can move beyond $80,000 and whether the broader altcoin market can extend its recovery.
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Bitcoin News: How Are Options Traders Positioning Their Bets?
Bitcoin options positioning indicates that traders are expecting a relatively calm month, although bullish sentiment remains dominant. Compared with the Binance hack, the US midterm elections generated a smaller reaction in the options market.
Following the Binance incident, Deribit’s DVOL index climbed to 44.25 within four hours. Around the US election, however, the indicator reached only 40.89.
Current derivatives positioning continues to favor upward price exposure. Deribit options open interest includes 193,024 BTC in calls and 132,544 BTC in puts, leaving the put-to-call ratio at 0.69. Call options also recorded greater activity than puts during the latest 24-hour trading period.
For the November 27 expiration, the largest single options position is a 4,484 BTC call position at the $90,000 strike price. The biggest bearish position consists of 2,880 BTC in put options at $75,000, slightly below Bitcoin’s recent weekly low.
Polymarket traders are assigning the following probabilities to Bitcoin’s potential price movements:
- $80,000 this month: 85.5%
- $85,000: 39.5%
- $90,000: 15.5%
- A decline to $75,000: 60.5%
Futures market indicators, however, paint a more cautious picture.
Bitcoin open interest on OKX advanced 4.2% over the past 24 hours to $3.86 billion. Yet bullish positioning weakened as the long-to-short account ratio dropped from 2.74 to 1.88.
Meanwhile, Hyperliquid funding rates remain unchanged at 0.01% every eight hours. This suggests leveraged traders are not currently showing strong willingness to pay additional costs to maintain long positions.
ETF activity also indicates that institutional investors have not returned in significant numbers. US spot Bitcoin ETFs registered $115.56 million in net withdrawals on November 3, taking their combined 30-day outflows to $1.32 billion. Spot Ether ETFs recorded another $85.35 million in outflows.
Bitcoin Price Analysis: Is $80,000 the Next Target?
Bitcoin’s latest rebound has helped establish a potential support zone around its 200-day exponential moving average. During overnight trading, BTC briefly touched $75,736 before recovering, with the decline stopping just below the 200-day EMA at $76,530.
The cryptocurrency has managed to avoid a daily close beneath this indicator since the Binance hack, keeping it an important level for market participants.
On the upside, the 50-day EMA at $80,076 represents the next significant resistance. Bitcoin is currently around $1,500 below this threshold, which also sits close to the $80,000 price target favored by Polymarket traders.
The key technical levels to monitor include:
- $80,076: The downward-sloping 50-day EMA and immediate resistance.
- $81,971: The October 29 peak, where the previous recovery lost momentum before the Binance hack.
- $76,530: The 200-day EMA and an important potential support area.
- $75,736: The latest overnight bottom, followed by the September low of $74,968.
Zcash Leverage Increases Ahead of the NU7 Upgrade
Zcash is attracting growing attention from derivatives traders as its network upgrade approaches. Open interest in Zcash futures on OKX climbed 28% to $196 million in 24 hours. The cryptocurrency is also among the leading markets on Hyperliquid, where its open interest stands at approximately $662 million.
The upcoming NU7 activation appears to be an important factor behind the increased activity. According to the Zcash Foundation, the Zebra 7.0.0 release will activate the upgrade at block height 3,543,405. The activation height was incorporated into the Zcash specifications on October 21.
NEAR has posted an 11% gain despite relatively stable open interest, indicating that spot buying is contributing more to its advance than leveraged trading. Binance recorded $108 million in NEAR trading volume, approaching the $111 million registered by XRP. However, preliminary figures showed that its US ETF experienced $3.60 million in outflows on Tuesday.
Ethena has gained 10% while open interest declined 3.2%. The divergence suggests that traders holding bearish positions may be closing their shorts, adding upward pressure to the token’s price.
With election-related uncertainty fading, Bitcoin options traders appear increasingly comfortable with a quieter market. However, ETF withdrawals and cautious futures positioning suggest that a sustained recovery is not yet guaranteed. Zcash’s upcoming NU7 upgrade could provide another test of whether renewed altcoin activity can develop into a broader market rally.
