Bitcoin Slips as Derivatives Skew Bearish; Trump-Themed WLFI Token Hits New Low
Bitcoin (BTC $109,574.46) edged lower on Thursday, down 0.7% over 24 hours and another 0.9% since midnight UTC. Despite the decline, the asset remains range-bound, stuck in the same band established since late August.
The broader market showed similar weakness. The CoinDesk 20 Index fell 1.3% since midnight, with nearly all components in the red. XRP (XRP $2.8136) was the lone gainer, up less than 0.1%.
Bearish Tilt in Derivatives
Options and perpetual futures markets are leaning negative. Funding rates eased, while put demand outpaced calls. Deribit noted heavy open interest between $105,000–$110,000 strikes, signaling strong hedging activity ahead of Friday’s $4.5 billion bitcoin options expiry and the U.S. August jobs report.
Open interest in bitcoin perpetuals has retreated from $33 billion to about $30 billion. The three-month annualized basis across Binance, OKX, and Deribit compressed to 5%–6%, leaving carry trades with slim profitability. Options signals are mixed: the implied volatility curve points to higher long-term swings, but the 25-delta skew is flat to negative, reflecting near-term caution. Still, calls represented 63% of daily volume.
CoinGlass reported $225 million in liquidations in 24 hours, split evenly between longs and shorts. ETH led with $65 million, followed by BTC at $46 million. Binance’s liquidation heatmap highlighted $110,250 as a key level to monitor.
WLFI Token Sinks Post-Debut
Separately, Word Liberty Financial (WLFI), a DeFi token associated with Donald Trump, plunged 21% to $0.174 on Thursday, marking a record low days after launch. Early investors appear to be cashing out, with one reportedly turning $15 million into $250 million in profit, while another lost $2.2 million on WLFI futures.
Despite political branding, WLFI offers little innovation compared to existing DeFi projects, leading traders to exit as hype fades. The trajectory resembles January’s TRUMP memecoin, which lost 89% shortly after launch.
Community frustration is building. “WLFI team, stop sleeping and start taking action. The community is already angry, at least don’t lose the last remaining investors,” one holder wrote on X. The team attempted to calm concerns by pledging treasury tokens would remain under governance control rather than sold on the market, but the announcement failed to halt the selloff.
