Crypto Markets Today: Bitcoin, Ether Drop as Selling Pressure Returns

Market Overview - The crypto market experienced selling pressure, with Bitcoin (BTC) trading at $107,800 and Ether (ETH) at $3,867, both retreating from recent gains [1] - Analysts are evaluating whether the market has formed a "lower high" pattern, which could indicate a continued decline, particularly if Bitcoin falls below the October 17 low of $103,700 [2][5] Derivatives Positioning - The Bitcoin futures market shows a recovery, with open interest rising to $26.06 billion as traders re-engage [4] - The three-month annualized basis remains stable in the neutral-to-bullish range of 5%-6% [4] - Funding rates have shifted back to mostly neutral or positive, indicating a reduction in short-side conviction, with OKX leading this change at a positive rate of 7.51% [4] - The BTC options market is strongly bullish, with an upward sloping implied volatility term structure, suggesting expectations of increased volatility [4] - The 25-delta skew has risen above 11.86%, indicating traders are paying a premium for upside exposure, reflecting confidence in a sustained rally [4] Liquidation Data - Coinglass data indicates $320 million in liquidations over 24 hours, with a 76%-24% split between longs and shorts, led by BTC ($88 million) and ETH ($85 million) [4] - The Binance liquidation heatmap highlights $112,300 as a key liquidation level to monitor [4] Market Movements - South Korean exchanges Upbit and Bithumb listed several lower market cap tokens, leading to significant price increases, such as SynFutures (F) which rose over 50% after its listing [4] - Trading volume for SynFutures increased by 669% to over $200 million [4] - Despite these gains, the broader altcoin market faced declines, with the CoinDesk 80 Index falling 4.5% in the past 24 hours, and several assets like CAKE and ETHFI losing 10% [4]