Bitcoin eased 0.2% to approximately $80,250 since midnight UTC but maintained its position above $80,000 following Wednesday’s strong recovery. The latest movement came as U.S. spot Bitcoin ETFs returned to positive territory, ending three consecutive sessions of net outflows.
Bitcoin traded around $80,250 after retreating slightly from Wednesday’s advance, which lifted the cryptocurrency from roughly $78,000. Ether declined 0.4%, while the CoinDesk 80 Index posted a 0.9% gain.
The broader recovery followed an approximately 8% plunge in oil prices and an advance in U.S. equities after the midterm election results. Over the past 24 hours, Bitcoin has risen 2.5%, while Ether has gained 4%. Brent crude was trading near $95 per barrel, recovering modestly after Wednesday’s sharp sell-off.
Data from Farside Investors showed that U.S. spot Bitcoin ETFs attracted $74.6 million in net inflows on Wednesday, reversing a three-day withdrawal trend.
Meanwhile, U.S. equity futures were mixed during early Thursday trading. S&P 500 futures slipped 0.1%, while Nasdaq-100 futures declined 0.8%. Market participants are awaiting Thursday’s jobless claims data and Friday’s U.S. employment report.
Bitcoin Derivatives Point to Widespread Short Liquidations
Crypto futures activity increases: Trading volume across cryptocurrency futures markets rose 15% over 24 hours to $244 billion, while total open interest edged up just 1% to $139.9 billion. The difference suggests that most market activity involved traders adjusting existing positions rather than substantial new capital entering the market.
Total liquidations climbed 53% to $715 million, with short positions representing approximately 65% of the losses. This indicates that traders betting against rising prices faced forced closures as the market advanced.
The taker buy-sell volume ratio, which measures aggressive market orders, shifted slightly toward sellers at 50.6%, reversing the modest buying preference recorded on Wednesday.
Bitcoin’s recovery largely reflects short covering: Bitcoin open interest increased only 0.3% despite a 2.6% price advance. Of the $267 million in Bitcoin liquidations, approximately 93% involved short positions.
These figures suggest that the rally was primarily fueled by bearish traders closing leveraged positions rather than a significant increase in new bullish bets. Nevertheless, funding rates remain positive and have climbed from the previous session, indicating that long-position holders continue paying short sellers.
NEAR loses momentum while Zcash activity slows: NEAR Protocol shifted from the strongest market-order buying activity on Wednesday to the weakest on Thursday. Its open interest dropped 2.7% alongside a 1.1% price decline, suggesting that traders were withdrawing capital. Funding rates remained positive, meaning long traders continued paying shorts.
Zcash also experienced a slowdown in trading activity. Its open interest increased 3.5% alongside a 3.6% price gain, but the 25% surge in fresh capital recorded the previous day did not return. Trading volume declined 13%.
CVD indicators deliver mixed signals: Open-interest-adjusted cumulative volume delta (CVD), which tracks aggressive buying and selling through market orders, showed different trends across cryptocurrencies. SUI ranked among the strongest tokens in buying pressure, while TRX, GRAM and BNB recorded some of the weakest readings.
Funding rates continue to favor bullish positions: Most cryptocurrencies maintained positive funding rates, indicating that long traders were paying short traders to hold their positions. Monero’s XMR continued to have the highest positive funding rate, although its reading declined compared with Wednesday. GRAM and TRX recorded the most negative rates, meaning short traders were paying long holders.
Bitcoin options signal reduced demand for protection: Bitcoin’s one-week options skew, which measures the premium investors pay for put options compared with call options, fell sharply to approximately 2% from 11% a day earlier.
The decline suggests that demand for short-term downside protection has weakened considerably. One-week implied volatility, which reflects the market’s expectations for price fluctuations, also moved lower to approximately 33%.
Call options dominate Bitcoin positioning: Five of Bitcoin’s six most actively traded options contracts were calls, with strike prices between $78,000 and $85,000. Only one put contract featured among the leading positions.
This represents a change from Wednesday, when put options with $75,000 and $68,000 strike prices also ranked among the most active contracts. Ether showed a different pattern, with four of its six leading options contracts being puts positioned below the current market price.
Injective Leads Crypto Gains Following Staked ETF Development
Injective (INJ) emerged as the strongest performer in the CoinDesk 100 Index, gaining approximately 6% since midnight UTC. The advance followed Nasdaq’s approval of the listing of Canary Capital’s proposed staked INJ ETF, which is expected to trade under the ticker INJC, according to an SEC filing. INJ climbed approximately 10% over 24 hours.
Venice Token (VVV), which topped Wednesday’s gainers, reversed its momentum and dropped 11% over the past 24 hours.
Official Trump (TRUMP) recorded a decline of approximately 14%, making it the weakest-performing asset among CoinMarketCap’s top 100 cryptocurrencies. World Liberty Financial’s WLFI token also lost around 4%. Both declines came amid Democratic victories in the U.S. midterm elections.
Market sentiment showed some improvement, with the CoinMarketCap Fear and Greed Index advancing to 42 from 37, returning to neutral territory. Meanwhile, the Altcoin Season Index remained at 49, suggesting that a broader shift toward altcoin dominance has yet to emerge.
