Bitcoin remained under pressure on Wednesday, trading near the $75,000 support level after failing to reclaim $78,000, while slipping below the $76,000 threshold highlighted by Bitmine Chairman Tom Lee as key to confirming a bull market shift.
The broader crypto market showed signs of weakness. Ether mirrored bitcoin’s move, facing rejection near $2,150 before dropping toward the $2,000 level. It later rebounded modestly, trading around $2,080 after briefly dipping to $2,050.
AI-related tokens, including RENDER, FET and NEAR, gave back a portion of their recent gains, declining between 1% and 3% after Tuesday’s rally.
In contrast, U.S. equities continued to push higher. Futures tied to the S&P 500 and Nasdaq 100 rose roughly 0.3%, reaching new record highs and underscoring a growing divergence between crypto and traditional markets.
Bitcoin’s position below $76,000 remains a focal point for traders, as a monthly close above that level has been cited as a signal of a potential end to the bear phase.
Derivatives data suggests increasing bearish sentiment. Futures trading volume jumped 54% to $201 billion over the past 24 hours, while liquidations surged 87%, reflecting a pickup in activity following a recent holiday lull.
Bitcoin fell about 1% during the same period even as open interest climbed to 740,000 BTC from 704,000 BTC, a pattern often associated with strengthening downtrends. Negative cumulative volume delta (CVD) indicates that traders are aggressively opening short positions, while funding rates remain largely neutral.
Ether’s open interest reached a record 15.57 million ETH alongside negative CVD, pointing to increased short positioning after a break below a bullish trendline that had held since February.
Meanwhile, ZEC futures open interest declined for a third consecutive day to 2.30 million tokens as prices moved lower, suggesting traders are closing out existing long positions rather than building new shorts.
Market volatility is beginning to rise. Bitcoin’s 30-day implied volatility index climbed nearly 3% to 37.35%, marking its first increase in 10 days and rebounding from yearly lows, potentially signaling growing demand for downside protection.
Options data from Deribit shows strong activity around protective positions, with the $55,000 September put emerging as the most traded contract. Traders have also concentrated activity in downside hedges between $70,000 and $76,000.
Sector-wide performance remained subdued. The CoinDesk Computing Select Index dropped 2.2% amid weakness in AI-linked assets, while the DeFi Select Index declined 1.5%.
Despite the broader pullback, a few assets outperformed. Hyperliquid’s native token (HYPE) extended its rally, rising 5.5% and setting a fresh record high this week. Monero also gained 5%, moving back toward the $400 level.
CoinMarketCap’s Altcoin Season Index rose to 36, indicating pockets of relative strength among select altcoins even as overall market sentiment remained cautious.
