Crypto Markets Today: Market Rallies, Altcoins Lead Gains; Zcash Hits 16-Month High

Market Overview - The crypto market saw a boost with Bitcoin (BTC) rising by 2.9% and Ether (ETH) by 3.1%, while altcoins experienced double-digit gains, indicating a potential "altcoin season" [1] - ZEC reached its highest level since May 2022, and several DeFi tokens also showed upward movement [1] - The market uptick coincided with a U.S. government shutdown, which has led to record high gold prices and a sell-off in the dollar [2] Derivatives Positioning - The BTC futures market shows a bullish bias with open interest at approximately $31.69 billion, indicating strong trader engagement, particularly on Binance with $13.19 billion [3] - The 3-month annualized basis remains between 6% and 7%, suggesting robust yield from basis trades [3] - The BTC options market presents a mixed sentiment; while the 25 Delta Skew for short-term options is low, indicating hedging against downside risk, the Put/Call Volume shows 63.54% of total volume in calls, reflecting bullish speculation [3] - Positive funding rates are observed across major exchanges, with Deribit seeing an annualized funding rate of 17%, indicating strong demand for leveraged long positions [3] - Coinglass data reports $644 million in liquidations over 24 hours, with a split of 38% longs and 62% shorts, highlighting significant market activity [3]