Crypto assets traded cautiously Monday despite a modest rebound in U.S. equity futures, which were up about 0.25% since midnight UTC.

Bitcoin changed hands near $68,710, down 0.1%, while several alternative tokens — including HYPE, ZEC and XMR — declined more than 3%.

Ethereum stood out with a 0.43% gain, edging back toward $2,000 after a sharp weekend slide. The drop was exacerbated by heavy flows linked to trader Garrett Jin. On-chain data shows a wallet attributed to Jin transferred over $540 million worth of ETH to Binance, causing a spike in exchange sell volume and pushing the token into oversold territory — a setup that supported Monday’s stabilization.

In commodities, gold traded around $5,000, down from its Jan. 29 peak of $5,600 but still outperforming silver and cryptocurrencies, which have fallen 36% and 21%, respectively, over the same timeframe. U.S. cash markets were closed for a public holiday.

Derivatives signal ongoing caution

Activity in futures markets points to continued de-risking. Total notional open interest (OI) across crypto futures slipped to $98 billion.

Over the past 24 hours, OI declined 1% in bitcoin contracts and 2.7% in ether futures. XRP, DOGE, SUI and ADA futures recorded steeper drops of 6% or more. Meanwhile, open interest in tokenized gold (XAUT) futures climbed 8%, reflecting a tilt toward traditional safe-haven exposure.

Implied volatility has retreated from recent extremes. Thirty-day volatility gauges for BTC and ETH have fallen back toward 50% annualized after nearing 100% during the latest sell-off, suggesting traders are reducing tail-risk premiums. However, the volatility spread between ether and bitcoin continues to widen, implying expectations for relatively larger price swings in ETH.

Funding rates for several altcoins — including XRP, TRX, DOGE and SOL — remain negative, highlighting persistent short positioning. If the market proves resilient, that imbalance could trigger short covering.

On the CME, SOL futures trade with an annualized premium close to zero, signaling waning bullish demand, while BTC and ETH contracts retain slight premiums.

Options markets present mixed signals. On Deribit, a trader paid $3 million in premium for a $75,000-strike bitcoin call option, representing a sizable upside bet. Even so, put options tied to BTC and ETH remain more expensive than calls across maturities, underscoring ongoing downside hedging.

Altcoins remain fragile

Altcoins drifted lower in thin Sunday liquidity before stabilizing modestly early Monday.

DOGE fell more than 10% over the past 24 hours but steadied after midnight UTC. XRP gained 1% during the same window, though it remains roughly 8% below Sunday morning levels.

LayerZero’s ZRO continued to retreat, dropping over 34% in five days, including a 10% slide in the last 24 hours. The weakness follows the launch of its native blockchain developed alongside Citadel Securities and Depository Trust & Clearing Corporation.

Index performance reflected the divergence. The bitcoin-heavy CoinDesk 5 Index rose 0.38% since midnight UTC, while the altcoin-focused CoinDesk 80 Index slipped 0.17%, highlighting continued relative underperformance across the broader altcoin market.