Bitcoin Rebounds From Asian Lows as Falling Oil Boosts Risk Appetite

Bitcoin traded around $86,000 after recovering from an Asian-session low near $85,000, with weaker oil prices and gains across global equities adding to the positive backdrop for risk assets.

Bitcoin was recently at $86,008.15. The largest cryptocurrency moved decisively above its May high on Monday, reinforcing the recent upward trend. The CoinDesk 20 Index gained 2.2% over the past 24 hours.

Demand from U.S.-listed spot bitcoin ETFs has also strengthened. The funds attracted nearly $1 billion on Monday, their biggest single-day inflow since October last year.

Oil prices provided another source of support. WTI crude futures dropped more than 2% to below $90 a barrel, extending a decline from a recent high of $106. The move followed a Kyodo report that Iran was prepared to reopen the Strait of Hormuz within seven days if the U.S. eased its blockade.

A sustained decline in energy prices could reduce inflationary pressure and potentially lessen the need for additional Federal Reserve rate increases in the months ahead.

“The crypto market gained ground against the backdrop of a sharp rise in the Nasdaq index,” said Alex Kuptsikevich, chief market analyst at FxPro. He pointed to lower oil prices and U.S. Treasury yields, stronger global equities and optimism surrounding U.S.-China negotiations as factors supporting risk appetite.

The strength was not limited to bitcoin. Several smaller cryptocurrencies rallied while BTC paused, with PEPE, DOGE and SHIB among the 10 strongest performers over the previous 24 hours. Large moves in memecoins are often associated with increased speculative activity.

Derivatives Positioning

Crypto futures activity accelerated sharply, but the increase in open interest was comparatively limited. Total futures volume climbed 38% to $292 billion over 24 hours, while open interest increased only 1% to $157 billion. That pushed the volume-to-OI ratio close to 2. Combined with $768 million in liquidations, most of them involving short positions, the data point toward short covering as an important driver of the rally.

Bitcoin futures open interest has also moved higher alongside the price. The total reached 716,000 BTC, its highest level since Aug. 25, although it remains below the roughly 750,000 BTC average recorded between April and July.

Ether and Solana have shown less appetite for leverage. ETH has outperformed bitcoin this quarter, but its futures open interest remains in the downtrend that began in May. SOL has followed a similar pattern.

XRP, meanwhile, has seen a notable increase in open interest. Its futures OI climbed to 2.46 billion tokens from 2.2 billion within 24 hours, representing a similar directional move to bitcoin but from a smaller base.

Whale positioning also differs across assets. CoinGlass data show bearish 24-hour whale bias for XRP, DOGE and gold, while BTC is classified as extremely bullish and ETH and SOL as bullish. Whale activity is only one factor influencing prices, but the divergence coincides with bitcoin outperforming XRP, DOGE and gold during the period.

Cumulative volume delta remains negative for BTC, ETH, XRP and SOL after adjusting for open interest. That indicates aggressive futures selling has exceeded aggressive buying even as prices have risen. The same pattern is visible across most major cryptocurrencies, with TRX among the exceptions. The setup is consistent with a rally driven partly by short covering rather than a broad accumulation of new long positions, although CVD can vary by exchange and is best interpreted alongside other indicators.

Dogecoin’s leverage increase is particularly notable. DOGE open interest jumped 10% in 24 hours, the largest increase among the top 10 cryptocurrencies. A sustained rise in leverage across meme tokens can signal increasing speculative activity, a pattern that has sometimes emerged around short-term market peaks.

Despite the rapid gains in BTC and ETH, volatility measures remain relatively contained. The 30-day annualized implied volatility indexes BVIV and EVIV are still within recent ranges and well below their February and early-June peaks, indicating that options traders are not pricing the current rally as an unusually disorderly move.

Laser Digital said the options volatility curve has flattened since last week as realized volatility increased and the relationship between spot prices and volatility turned firmly positive.

Deribit’s short-dated risk reversals also shifted sharply toward BTC and ETH calls late Monday after bitcoin moved above $85,000. The call bias has since moderated. Calls provide upside exposure, while puts are generally used to protect against price declines.

The most actively traded bitcoin options over the past 24 hours were calls at the $95,000 and $90,000 strikes. Ethereum options activity was concentrated in calls between $2,500 and $3,000.

Token Talk: ZetaChain Moves Toward Solana

ZetaChain holders have voted to retire the blockchain and move the ZETA token to Solana, an unusual governance decision that would bring the network to an end rather than simply modify its existing operations.

ZetaChain launched in 2023 after raising $27 million, with the goal of allowing value to move between blockchains that otherwise have limited interoperability. Its ZETA token is now ranked around No. 313 by market capitalization, with a value of approximately $90 million.

The proposal to shut down the network and migrate ZETA to Solana passed Sunday with more than 99% support on 58% voter participation, exceeding the 40% threshold required. Another governance vote is still necessary before the transition can proceed.

ZetaChain’s developers have argued that operating a blockchain carries ongoing security and maintenance costs. The network is built using the Cosmos SDK, a common toolkit shared by multiple blockchains, meaning vulnerabilities discovered in related infrastructure can require coordinated fixes across independent network operators.

In August, Cosmos Labs disclosed attacks affecting six chains using related software, with roughly $6 million stolen. ZetaChain was not among the networks affected, but its developers said the incident highlighted the continuing maintenance burden.

The move to Solana is also linked to Anuma, an AI application developed by ZetaChain’s team. Introduced in February, the app is designed to retain user context across different AI models instead of starting each interaction from scratch. The developers say Anuma has attracted more than 300,000 users.

Because Solana already has an established user base, wallets and exchange support, the developers believe the migration can give Anuma access to an existing ecosystem without requiring users to bridge assets into a smaller network.

Under the proposed model, ZETA holders would lock their tokens in exchange for credits that can be spent within Anuma. That would shift the token’s role from exposure to blockchain security toward prepaid access to the application.

ZETA rose from around 4 cents ahead of Sunday’s vote to roughly 7 cents before reversing. The token was down 16% over 24 hours at just under 6 cents. Trading volume reached nearly $117 million against a market value of about $90 million, meaning the token’s market capitalization effectively changed hands more than once during the day.

About The Author