Bitcoin has pushed past $113,000 for the first time since the massive weekend crash that wrecked nearly $20 billion from the crypto market, according to data from CoinGecko.
The tiny rally comes after days of chop between $108K and $111K, with no direction and low conviction. On Tuesday, the world’s largest crypto asset bounced after a sluggish session, reclaiming some ground in what’s been a brutal two-week period for digital markets. Ether also inched higher, clearing $4,100 as buyers slowly returned.
That violent October 10 dump, the largest single-day liquidation in crypto history, flushed out speculators across the board. Crypto hasn’t moved much since.
Altcoins crash deeper as risk appetite vanishes
A market cap-weighted index tracking the 50 smallest tokens, including meme names like Pump.fun, now trades at levels below 2022’s FTX-era lows. Thinly traded and largely held by retail, these digital assets act as early indicators of marginal risk appetite.
These coins are mostly held by retail. They trade thin. And when they dump this hard, it shows no one’s willing to gamble anymore.
Bitcoin has managed to hold above $100K, but that’s not saying much. It’s still far off its highs from a few weeks ago. The recent plunge wiped out leverage in perpetual futures, forcing liquidations across centralized platforms like Binance.
Once the collateral dropped, the risk engines kicked in, and positions got torched. The entire structure cracked under the weight of its own leverage.
Meanwhile, precious metals didn’t hold up either. Gold and silver, which had both been posting new all-time highs all year, dropped on Tuesday as well. And though the drivers may differ, the pain across asset classes hints at fatigue from the year’s most overcrowded trades.
ETFs bleed, futures frozen, and options scream protection
BlackRock’s iShares Bitcoin ETF, which holds $88 billion in assets as of press time, saw over $400 million in outflows over the past five sessions, breaking a 10-day inflow run.
The Ethereum twin, ETHA, lost more than $260 million in two days.
Meanwhile, perpetual futures, the most-used product for leveraged Bitcoin trading, have seen average funding rates stay negative for a full week, based on analysis by K33 Research. That means short sellers are paying to keep their bets alive.
No one’s going long. Open interest is still low. And the options market is showing the same picture. Traders aren’t betting on big moves. Instead, they’re loading up on puts, especially at the $100K strike. Glassnode said:-
“Long-term holder supply has declined by another 28K BTC since October 15th, meaning LTHs have spent more coins than what was aging into their cohort from short-term holders”
And while crypto’s frozen, stocks are on fire. The Dow Jones Industrial Average jumped 218.16 points, closing at 46,924.74 on Tuesday. It briefly pushed past 47,000 during the day. The S&P 500 closed almost flat at 6,735.35, while the Nasdaq Composite dropped by 0.16% to end at 22,953.67.
All eyes are now on Friday’s inflation report. A hotter-than-expected CPI print could trigger new selling across both crypto and traditional hedges. With leverage gone and retail skittish, any real move in Bitcoin might come from emotions, not conviction.
“Broad bearish bias, risk appetite has done a complete 180 since Oct 10,” said Vetle Lunde, head of research at K33. “This harmonizes with typical post mass-liquidation reactions in BTC, i.e., anemic consolidations and low interest, then growing short interest.”
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