BTC falls to $91,000 as concerns over U.S. trade disputes weigh on crypto – Crypto Markets Today.

Bitcoin Slides as Asia-Driven Selling Hits Crypto Markets

Bitcoin gave back last week’s gains as Asia-led selling weighed on the crypto market, compounded by declines in U.S. equity futures. BTC traded at $90,258, wiping out its rally from $98,000.

The downturn accelerated during the Asia session, starting around 01:15 UTC and stabilizing near 07:00 UTC. Privacy-focused coins were among the hardest hit, with Monero (XMR) down 9% to $515 and Dash (DASH) falling 3% to $69.44, reflecting cooling trader interest after a strong start to the year.

The selloff in crypto tracked moves in U.S. equities. Nasdaq 100 futures fell more than 1.9% since Sunday evening, while S&P 500 futures dropped 1.6%. Analysts point to continued trade tensions between the U.S. and EU over Greenland as a key driver of risk-off sentiment.

Safe-haven assets extended gains, with gold and silver climbing to record highs.

Derivatives and Market Positioning

Over $360 million in crypto futures positions were liquidated over 24 hours, mostly from long bets.
Bitcoin’s 30-day implied volatility (BVIV) rose to 42% from 39.7%, signaling renewed demand for options and hedging strategies.
U.S. Treasury volatility ticked up slightly but remains far below November levels, suggesting potential risk aversion if volatility rises further.
DOGE, ZEC, and ADA led declines in futures open interest, indicating capital outflows, while BTC futures open interest remained steady.
Funding rates for most major tokens remain positive, pointing to a bullish bias, though ZEC and TRX show deep negative funding, reflecting heavy short positioning.
On Deribit, put options for BTC and Ether (ETH $3,000.50) are priced higher than calls, reflecting persistent downside concerns. On decentralized platform Derive, traders price a 30% chance of BTC falling below $80,000.

Altcoins Face Pressure

Lower-liquidity altcoins underperformed Bitcoin, with Ethereum and Solana (SOL $130.22) down over 3%. DeFi tokens like AERO and SKY fell more than 5.5% in 24 hours.

The memecoin sector also slumped, with the CoinDesk Memecoin Index (CDMEME) down 3.91%, underperforming other benchmarks.

Traders are closely watching Bitcoin’s next move. Consolidation between $85,000 and $95,000 could stabilize altcoins, while a sustained drop below $85,000 could trigger heavy losses, as liquidity has yet to recover from October’s $19 billion liquidation cascade.