Crypto Market Slides as Nasdaq Tech Rout Spills Into Digital Assets

Here’s a clean paraphrase in a professional crypto-news style:

Bitcoin dropped 2.5% to around $62,300 while ether slid more than 4%, with roughly $717 million in liquidations intensifying losses across altcoins.

The crypto market declined on Tuesday, with Bitcoin (BTC) trading near $62,300 after falling 2.5% since midnight UTC, while ether (ETH) dropped more than 4% to around $1,650.

The selloff followed Monday’s weakness in technology stocks, with Nasdaq 100 futures extending losses by about 2.5% since midnight, signaling continued pressure on risk assets.

According to TickMill market strategist Patrick Munnelly, tech stocks are facing headwinds from profit-taking and concerns over rising bond yields.

Altcoins underperformed major tokens, with assets such as Ethena (ENA) and Hyperliquid (HYPE) losing 5%–6%, as $717 million in liquidations accelerated downside moves across the market.

The U.S. Dollar Index (DXY) also strengthened, climbing to 101.15—its highest level since May 2025.

Derivatives activity shows rising short positioning

Open interest in SpaceX perpetual futures listed on platforms such as Hyperliquid and Binance rose around 10% even as prices fell roughly 15%, suggesting increased leverage on the short side and reinforcing the downtrend. The contracts have now become the sixth-largest globally, ahead of several major crypto assets including ZEC.

XRP futures open interest climbed to 2.38 billion tokens, revisiting eight-month highs despite a near 2% weekly decline. Negative OI-adjusted cumulative volume delta (CVD) for a second consecutive day suggests aggressive market selling dominated by taker-driven shorts rather than passive buyers.

Bitcoin futures open interest continued to decline, slipping to 720,000 BTC from 742,000 BTC last week, down from a recent peak near 800,000 BTC. Ether futures OI recovered slightly from five-week lows to 14.13 million ETH, though positioning remains below late-May highs.

Across most of the top 25 tokens, sellers remained dominant, with negative OI-adjusted CVD readings indicating broad bearish momentum.

Volatility indicators are also rising, with Bitcoin’s 30-day implied volatility index (BVIV) climbing from around 40%, while ether’s EVIV shows a similar trend—both typically associated with risk-off or bearish conditions.

In the options market, positioning remains skewed toward long calls ahead of Friday’s quarterly expiry, though many of these positions are now underwater following the recent price decline. Put options, meanwhile, are increasingly in profit as downside protection pays off.

Put-call skews continue to show demand for hedging, reflecting cautious sentiment across the market.

Token-specific moves

Privacy coins showed relative resilience, with Dash (DASH) down just 0.2% and Monero (XMR) slipping around 0.7%.

Zcash (ZEC), however, fell 4.2%, tracking broader weakness in altcoins after recent pressure from an AI-related exploit.

AI-linked tokens such as Fetch.ai (FET), Render (RENDER), and Bittensor (TAO) declined 3%–5% as sentiment from the tech sector spilled into crypto markets.

On the brighter side, the average crypto relative strength index (RSI) sits near 39, suggesting oversold conditions that could open the door for a short-term rebound or relief rally.