Altcoins Take Hit as Crypto Market Continues Downward Trend

The crypto market continues to face a bearish October with altcoins facing double-digit declines. BTC and ETH are near critical levels of support. Derivatives positioning shows a mixed market sentiment with negative funding rates on major exchanges. The BTC options market indicates a bullish signal with a high demand for call options. Altcoins such as Bittensor, aster, and lido have fallen between 12% and 13%. The market is experiencing heavy sell pressure due to distribution from long-term holders of bitcoin and low liquidity levels.

The crypto market is experiencing a tumultuous October, marked by significant sell-offs and bearish sentiment. Altcoins have been particularly hard-hit, with several assets witnessing double-digit declines. Key cryptocurrencies such as Bitcoin (BTC) and Ethereum (ETH) are nearing critical levels of support, while derivatives positioning indicates a mixed market sentiment.

Derivatives data shows that while the BTC futures market is relatively stable, with open interest holding firm around $25 billion, there is a notable divergence in funding rates. Major exchanges like Binance and OKX have negative funding rates of -2% to -3%, indicating a significant number of traders holding short positions despite the stable open interest and basis, according to a Yahoo Finance report.

The BTC options market, however, presents a bullish signal. The 24-hour Put/Call Volume is roughly balanced, suggesting steady demand from both sides. The most significant metric is the 1-week 25 Delta Skew, which has spiked to 12.62%, indicating that traders are willing to pay a substantial premium for call options and are aggressively positioning for a price increase, as noted in the same report.

Altcoins such as Bittensor (TAO), Aster (ASTER), and Lido (LDO) have fallen between 12% and 13% over the past 24 hours. The altcoin season index on CoinMarketCap has dropped to 27/100, its lowest point in over three months. The market's heavy sell pressure is attributed to distribution from long-term holders of Bitcoin and low liquidity levels, particularly following the weekend's leverage blowout, the report adds.

The crypto market has also seen significant liquidations, with $415 million in 24-hour liquidations, a 70-30 split between longs and shorts. Ethereum (ETH) accounted for $115 million, Bitcoin (BTC) for $80 million, and other tokens for $43 million in notional liquidations, according to the article. Binance's liquidation heatmap indicates a core liquidation level of $110,000 to monitor in case of a price drop.

Ripple (XRP) traders are facing a 635% liquidation spike, with $12.4 million in futures contracts liquidated in a single day, the majority of which were long positions; this imbalance suggests that traders were heavily leveraged and the recent sell-off caught them off guard, according to a U.Today report. Meanwhile, Ethereum (ETH) is tipped to capture 60% of the $2 trillion stablecoin market, with Joe Moglia predicting that stablecoins will hit $2 trillion in five years, as the same report outlines.

The overall market remains volatile, with leverage remaining heavy and institutional narratives colliding with fragile charts. Bitcoin (BTC) is currently held near $110,000, with the critical floor at $110,000 and the cap at $114,500. Ethereum (ETH) must protect support levels near $3,300-3,400 to keep the tokenization thesis credible. XRP (XRP) needs stability around $2.40-2.50 as ETF decisions approach, the report also notes.

In summary, the crypto market is experiencing a challenging October, with altcoins facing significant declines and key cryptocurrencies nearing critical levels of support. Derivatives positioning shows mixed sentiment, while the BTC options market indicates a bullish signal. The market's heavy sell pressure is attributed to distribution from long-term holders of Bitcoin and low liquidity levels. The overall market remains volatile, with leverage remaining heavy and institutional narratives colliding with fragile charts.