Crypto Markets Today: Bitcoin rises to a one-month peak as altcoins underperform.

Bitcoin briefly surged past $93,000 on Monday, fueling a risk-on mood across markets, though uneven altcoin performance signals caution among traders about a potential short-term pullback.

The largest cryptocurrency reached an intraday high of $93,350 — its strongest level since Dec. 11 — before settling near $92,390. Most of the gains occurred around midnight UTC, coinciding with the reopening of bitcoin futures on the CME, which left a price gap between $90,500 and $91,550. Historically, such gaps tend to be filled within a few days, suggesting prices could revisit that lower range later this week.

Market attention remains heavily focused on bitcoin. BTC has risen roughly 1.3% since midnight, while broader altcoin benchmarks lagged: the CoinDesk Meme Index (CDMEME) fell 6.4% and the Metaverse Index (MTVS) lost 2.3%. Traditional markets echoed the risk-on sentiment, with equities and precious metals climbing following recent U.S.-Venezuela developments.

Derivatives positioning

Leveraged crypto futures saw $260 million in liquidations over the past 24 hours, predominantly short positions, highlighting that bearish bets were caught off guard by the price uptick.

Open interest increased 2–5% in BTC, Bitcoin Cash (BCH), XRP, and BNB, while ETH, SOL, DOGE, and ZEC showed flat to declining interest, indicating improved risk appetite in a select few coins. Excluding BTC, BCH, BNB, and XLM, the cumulative volume delta adjusted for open interest was negative across the top 20 cryptocurrencies, reflecting net selling pressure.

BTC perpetual funding rates have surged above 10% annualized, pointing to heightened demand for bullish exposure, while funding for many altcoins remains below zero. On Deribit, downside hedging in BTC has weakened as traders chase $100,000 strike calls. Block trades recently featured put spreads in BTC and call spreads in ETH.

Token highlights

Although bitcoin dominates attention, some tokens outperformed the broader market. Newly launched LIT, the native token of perpetual exchange Lighter, rose 3.9% since midnight, while AI-focused FET extended its weekend rally with a 7.4% gain.

Caution remains, however, as the average crypto relative strength index (RSI) has reached 58/100, approaching overbought territory and suggesting short-term profit-taking may be imminent.

Several tokens underperformed despite bitcoin’s strength. Zcash (ZEC) fell 2.5%, while memecoins Dogecoin (DOGE) and Pepe (PEPE) declined 1.4% and 4.5%, respectively.

The mixed performance across altcoins highlights persistent trader indecision and a continuing lack of liquidity, conditions that have weighed on the crypto market since October’s liquidation-driven selloff.