Crypto Update: Bitcoin Maintains Its Ground as Altcoins Slip Under Strong Sell Pressure

Bitcoin remained largely stable over the past 24 hours, even as heavy sell flows hit the market and altcoins saw widespread losses.

Blockchain tracker Lookonchain reported that a long-term bitcoin holder moved $228 million in BTC to Kraken, while miner MARA Holdings (MARA) transferred another $58 million to FalconX and Coinbase Prime. Despite the sharp uptick in supply hitting exchanges, the market held firm, with BTC trading volumes rising 5% to $81 billion.

The resilience didn’t extend to altcoins. Ether (ETH) dropped 3.4%, and several smaller tokens—such as canton (CC)—recorded declines of more than 10%.

Derivatives landscape

More than $600 million in leveraged crypto futures were liquidated over the past day, mostly long positions, underscoring the ongoing unwinding of bullish leverage.

Open interest increased in futures tied to ZEC, BTC, SOL and DOGE, while capital left markets for XRP, ETH, ASTER and AVAX. Funding rates for TRX and ZEC perpetuals stayed negative, reflecting a short bias, while most other major assets saw mildly positive rates.

CME activity continued to cool. Bitcoin futures open interest dropped to 133,250 contracts, its lowest point since late September and far below the December 2024 peak above 200,000 BTC. ETH futures OI steadied near 2 million ETH after sliding from a record 2.63 million in late October.

On Deribit, traders favored call spreads and strangles, with one notable block involving a $90,000 BTC put expiring Nov. 28. For ether, put spreads made up 43% of the day’s block flow.

Token talk

Altcoins gave back most of Wednesday’s rebound. Ether fell 3.4%, dragging broader sentiment lower. CoinMarketCap’s “altcoin season” gauge slipped to 26/100, while the CoinDesk 20 Index (CD20) dipped 0.66%.

Still, a few names outperformed. ATOM rallied more than 10% following a technical breakout, and zcash (ZEC) gained 8.7%, extending its strong two-month uptrend.

In ecosystem news, Base founder Jesse Pollak announced plans to issue a token on Thursday under the ticker JESSE. His previous “content tokens” sparked skepticism, as many quickly lost value after launch. Pollak defended the idea on X, saying the combination of creator tokens and content tokens forms a “flywheel” that returns ownership and upside to creators and followers.

Memecoins and viral tokens—JESSE included—continue to lag the broader market. The CoinDesk Memecoin Index (CDMEME) has slid more than 40% since September, compared to a roughly 30% decline in the CoinDesk 20 over the same period.

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