Crypto Markets Today: Bearish Sentiment and Market Mayhem Awaiting Jobs Report

by

Markets

What You Need to Know, in Case You’re Still Watching the Crypto Circus:

  • Bitcoin and the CoinDesk 20 Index are doing their best impression of a sinking ship.
  • Almost every single index member has taken a dive since midnight UTC – except for XRP, the lone survivor. Well, barely.
  • Derivatives markets are shaping up to be more bearish than an all-you-can-eat steakhouse on a Monday. Over $4.5 billion in crypto options are about to expire on Deribit this Friday.

In This Thrilling Chapter:

BTCBTC$110,970.82◢0.15%
XRPXRP$2.8464◢0.01%

Bitcoin, that ol’ faithful, is down by 0.7% in the last 24 hours. Nothing too catastrophic, just enough to remind you that the market has a cruel sense of humor. The decline picked up a little pace since midnight UTC, falling by 0.9%. A round of applause for consistency.

Meanwhile, the CoinDesk 20 Index has slipped 1.3% since the clock struck midnight, with all but one of its members struggling to stay afloat. XRP, however, is doing its best impersonation of a hero, up 0.1% (don’t spend it all at once).

The bearish mood is like a bad smell in the derivatives and perpetual futures markets. Perpetual funding rates have fallen, and put options are dominating like a plague of locusts over calls. Over $4.5 billion worth of options are set to expire on Deribit this Friday, right alongside the U.S. jobs report for August. Oh, the drama.

“Open interest is tilting toward puts,” said Deribit. “We’re all waiting for the inevitable doom, aren’t we?” They might as well have added, “But hey, let’s still pretend things are fine.”

The Derivatives Drama

  • BTC derivatives positioning has “cooled.” But don’t be fooled-activity is still buzzing, just with less fervor. Think of it as the calm before the storm.
  • Open interest in perpetual futures across major venues has shrunk from a recent high of $33 billion to about $30 billion. A modest drop, but one with a certain… elegance.
  • At the same time, the three-month annualized basis continues to compress like a pair of too-tight jeans. Just 5%-6% across Binance, OKX, and Deribit. Who knew the carry trade could be so… unprofitable?
  • Options data: It’s as mixed as your last salad. The implied volatility curve says we should expect more long-term chaos, there’s no tomorrow. But oddly enough, calls still dominate at 63%. Someone’s clearly holding out hope, right?
  • Funding rates? Yeah, they’re stable at 4%-6%. Nothing exciting here, except for Hyperliquid, who decided to go overboard with a rate above 6% for BTC.
  • Coinglass reports $225 million in liquidations in the last 24 hours. Longs and shorts are basically splitting the spoils, with ETH leading the way with $65 million in liquidations. It’s a party, but no one’s enjoying it.
  • Watch for a potential liquidation level at $110,250 on Binance-just in case the price takes a dive. Don’t say we didn’t warn you.

Token Gossip

By the ever-curious Oliver Knight

  • In the latest “how low can we go?” contest, the Donald Trump-backed DeFi token WLFI has sunk to a new low of $0.174. Just days after its debut, it’s already giving everyone buyer’s remorse.
  • WLFI’s 21% daily drawdown can be chalked up to a simple truth: the hype train is already losing steam, and token holders are cashing out faster than you can say “buy the dip.”
  • One lucky (or unlucky?) trader made $250 million by investing $15 million. Meanwhile, another lost $2.2 million. Seems like the market is handing out fortunes like candy on Halloween.
  • WLFI’s connection to Trump might be enough for some, but in the end, there’s nothing innovative about the project. The development? Practically nonexistent. Traders are already jumping ship in droves.
  • “WLFI team, wake up!” one disgruntled holder tweeted. “Do something before we all bail out!” Yeah, good luck with that.
  • The WLFI chart? It’s starting to look suspiciously like the Trump memecoin debacle-after an initial pump, TRUMP lost 89% of its value. Ouch.
  • In a desperate move, WLFI’s team promised not to sell their tokens. Let’s hope they didn’t take the promise too seriously, because prices are continuing to plummet.

Closing Thoughts

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2025-09-04 15:51