Bitcoin Rebounds Toward $77,300 as Zcash Leverage Unwinds

Bitcoin climbed 0.7% since midnight UTC to around $77,200, with 68 of the CoinDesk 100 constituents moving higher. Despite the rebound, the index remained 1.4% lower over the past 24 hours.

Bitcoin was trading near $77,300, according to CoinDesk Indices data, gaining 0.7% since midnight UTC while remaining down 0.87% over 24 hours. BTC is still about 6% below last week’s peak of $82,284.

Ether rose 1.6% on Friday and also traded higher over the 24-hour period, making it one of the few major cryptocurrencies to recover from overnight losses. Solana gained just under 1% since midnight.

Market breadth also improved. Within the CoinDesk 100, 68 assets were higher on the day, reversing Thursday’s 86-14 decline. The index gained 0.5%, although it remained 1.6% lower over 24 hours, with 80 constituents still in negative territory over that period.

The memecoin index posted the strongest gain, rising 0.73% since midnight UTC. As on the previous day, speculative assets recorded the largest move, although the direction had reversed.

Traditional financial markets also strengthened. S&P 500 futures rose 0.48%, Nasdaq futures gained 0.56%, gold advanced 0.74% and silver climbed 0.92%, while the Dollar Index was unchanged. U.S. August consumer price data was scheduled for release at 8:30 a.m. ET, making it the final major economic report before the Federal Reserve’s Sept. 15-16 FOMC meeting.

Derivatives Positioning

Total open interest across crypto futures declined to $59.5 billion from $62.4 billion on Wednesday, while 24-hour trading volume reached $94.2 billion, according to Coinalyze. Liquidations totaled $256.3 million over the previous 24 hours, up from $142.3 million in the middle of the week.

Bitcoin’s open interest remained broadly stable at $25 billion, increasing 0.12% over 24 hours and representing 42.1% of the overall market. Coinalyze data shows BTC open interest peaked near $26.8 billion on Sept. 4 and has gradually declined since, indicating that leverage has been reduced over the past week rather than through one major liquidation event.

Zcash experienced the largest deleveraging. Its open interest fell 20.1% to $1.4 billion as ZEC dropped 9% to $1,112.10, while liquidations reached $17.2 million. Funding turned negative at -0.0016%, making Zcash the only major token with a negative funding rate.

Bitcoin accounted for $60.3 million of liquidations, while Ether contributed $46.5 million. Combined, the two assets represented more than 40% of total liquidations.

Funding rates remained positive but relatively subdued. Bitcoin’s aggregate funding rate stood at 0.0036%, while the predicted rate was 0.0026%. The overall long/short account ratio was 1.114, with longs representing 52.67% and shorts 47.29%, indicating a relatively balanced market.

Hyperliquid’s HYPE token and XRP both recorded roughly 5% declines in open interest over 24 hours, leaving their respective totals at $2.5 billion and $1.2 billion.

Token Performance

Theta Network led the CoinDesk 100, rising 11% since midnight UTC to $0.19 and gaining 6.9% over 24 hours.

Raydium, the Solana-based decentralized exchange token, climbed 10% on the day to $1.60 and was 18% higher over 24 hours. It marked the third consecutive session in which Raydium topped the index, following gains of 5.8% and 8.5% earlier in the week.

Perpetual futures exchange token Lighter rose 5.8% to $4.54, recovering some of the ground lost during a 15% decline over the previous 24 hours.

Zcash gained 3.4% since midnight to $1,116.06 but remained down 8.8% over 24 hours, giving it the largest daily decline among tokens with market capitalizations above $10 billion.

Morpho advanced 3.6% to $2.34 and was up 2.3% over 24 hours, making it one of the few mid-cap tokens showing gains across both timeframes.

CoinMarketCap’s “Altcoin Season” indicator stood at 38/100, remaining in neutral territory after reaching 51/100 on Tuesday.

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