Crypto Markets Today: Bearish October Continues as Altcoins Dealt Hammer Blow

Market Overview - The crypto market experienced a significant sell-off, with several altcoins facing double-digit declines while BTC and ETH approached critical support levels [1] - This sell-off is seen as a continuation of a previous $500 billion market downturn, prompting traders to exercise caution to avoid further liquidations [1] Derivatives Positioning - The BTC futures market is stabilizing, with Open Interest around $25 billion and a 3-month annualized basis in the 5-6% range [3] - A divergence in funding rates indicates mixed market sentiment, with Binance and OKX showing negative funding rates of -2% to -3%, suggesting bearish conviction among traders [3] - The BTC options market displays strong bullish signals, with a balanced 24-hour Put/Call Volume and a 1-week 25 Delta Skew spiking to 12.62%, indicating demand for call options [3] Liquidation Data - Coinglass data reports $415 million in liquidations over 24 hours, with a 70-30 split between longs and shorts, highlighting significant market activity [3] - Major liquidations included ETH ($115 million), BTC ($80 million), and others ($43 million), with a key liquidation level at $110,009 to monitor [3] Altcoin Performance - Altcoins faced severe declines, with Bittensor (TAO), aster (ASTER), and lido (LDO) dropping between 12% and 13% in 24 hours, while the "altcoin season" index fell to 27/100, its lowest in over three months [3] - Despite the overall bearish sentiment, tron (TRX) showed resilience, rising from $0.312 to $0.322, indicating potential recovery [3] Market Catalysts - The recent sell-off is attributed to distribution from long-term Bitcoin holders, creating heavy sell pressure amid low demand [3] - Altcoins are negatively impacted by Bitcoin's downturn, with low liquidity levels exacerbating price declines during sell-offs [3]