Bitcoin traded near $91,000 as fear intensified across the market, with volatility jumping and over $1 billion in leveraged futures liquidations absorbed by long positions while altcoins extended declines. The Fear & Greed Index slid to 15/100—the lowest reading since April—raising the possibility of a relief bounce, though Bitcoin could still retest the $87,500 support level. More than $1 billion in leveraged futures positions were wiped out, with volatility hitting a six-week high and options flows showing a growing bias toward puts.
The crypto market showed few signs of recovery on Tuesday, with BTC trading around $91,000 and ether near $3,043, highlighting a broad risk-off environment. The market’s sentiment metrics remain at cycle lows, complicating prospects for a near-term rebound as traders seek safer assets.
Derivatives positioning remained decisive, with leveraged crypto-futures bets totaling over $1 billion liquidated in the past 24 hours, and longs accounting for the bulk of the losses. Bitcoin futures open interest has risen to roughly 730,550 BTC, a six-week high, underscoring a deteriorating technical backdrop as price moves diverge from open interest. Ethereum futures open interest hovered near 12.5 million ETH, while perpetual funding rates for most tokens stayed mildly positive despite large liquidations, excluding TRX.
In the options market, Deribit data showed a strengthened put bias for BTC and ETH, with notable flows including a $90,000 BTC put expiring on Nov. 28 and a rollover of positions in the $4,000 ETH call options. The privacy-coin sector led downside pressure, with ZEC and DASH falling 14% and 9% respectively, while ether and XRP declined roughly 4% over the past 24 hours. Tokens tied to decentralized derivatives exchanges, such as ASTER and HYPE, bucked the trend with gains of 8.5% and 5%.
Overall, the wider market remained deflated, with the index (excluding Bitcoin) down about 3.8% in the last 24 hours and a monthly drop near 19.7%. Traders continued to exercise caution, recognizing Bitcoin as a potential safe haven amid ongoing volatility. A sequence of lower highs and lower lows across multiple altcoin pairs signaled ongoing downtrends, suggesting the market had not yet entered crypto winter, though further downside risk remained a possibility.
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