Volatility returned to crypto markets on Monday as Bitcoin (BTC) spiked to $79,480 before quickly reversing to $77,800. The move began around 23:00 UTC with the opening of U.S. equity and CME Bitcoin futures, a period often marked by heightened volatility. By 05:30 UTC, the price began falling after failing to break above the $80,000 level, dropping 2% in an hour.
The decline coincided with oil reaching its highest level since the ceasefire between the U.S. and Iran began. Brent crude traded at $107 per barrel after U.S. President Donald Trump canceled plans to send U.S. officials for talks in Pakistan. Ether (ETH) traded around $2,320, losing 2.2% since midnight UTC, underperforming Bitcoin but not falling as sharply as several altcoins.
Nearly $300 million in crypto futures bets were liquidated in the past 24 hours, most of which were bearish short plays that likely faced the brunt of Bitcoin's brief rally. Open interest (OI) in XRP futures rose by nearly 2.5% in 24 hours, the biggest increase among major tokens. The OI touched a one-week high of 1.82 billion XRP alongside negative perpetual funding rates, painting a bearish picture. Analysts noted that persistent negative funding rates in BTC are mainly due to institutions hedging bullish exposure. HBAR, CC, XLM, and HYPE were other standout OI gainers. SUI recorded the most negative CVD, suggesting sustained aggressive selling, following a hack on its DeFi protocol Scallop that saw 150,000 SUI tokens stolen.
Despite the selloff, Bitcoin and ether's 30-day implied volatility indexes declined, signaling market calm that could support continued rallies. On Deribit, Bitcoin and ether options continue to show a bias for puts across all time frames. Bitcoin's $80,000 strike call option is the most popular, with a notional open interest of over $1.5 billion. Laser Digital reported that investors are favoring risk reversals over outright puts.
CoinShares released its latest cryptocurrency report, revealing $1.2 billion in inflows last week, marking the fourth consecutive positive week. Bitcoin led with $932.5 million in inflows, followed by Ethereum with $192.4 million, Solana (SOL) with $31.8 million, XRP with $25 million, and Chainlink (LINK) with $6.8 million. Bitcoin short positions saw $16.5 million in inflows, indicating continued hedging demand. The U.S. ranked first in regional inflows with $1.08 billion, followed by Germany ($61.7 million) and Switzerland ($35.2 million).
Altcoins were hit hardest during the selloff, with Lido (LDO) dropping 17%. The CoinDesk 20 (CD20) Index fell 1.5%, while the DeFi Select Index (DFX) lost 2.3%. A handful of tokens avoided the selloff, including PENGU (+9.1%), JUP (+4%), and CHZ (+3.1%). CoinMarketCap's 'Altcoin Season' indicator remained neutral at 39/100.
