Bitcoin was hovering around $78,000 after falling 2% in 24 hours, with broad weakness across digital assets. According to CoinDesk Indices, 95 of the 100 cryptocurrencies in the CoinDesk 100 were trading lower, and most of the losses came during the overnight session.

BTC was down 0.23% from midnight UTC and trading near $78,000. The decline erased Wednesday’s gains and left bitcoin 5.1% below its $82,284 peak from last week.

Ether was around $2,470, slightly higher since midnight but still 1.9% lower over 24 hours. BNB was the biggest loser among large-cap cryptocurrencies, dropping 5.1% to $710.11.

Only five CoinDesk 100 constituents posted gains during the 24-hour period, pushing the index down 3.7%.

Speculative assets suffered the most. The CoinDesk Memecoin Index plunged 10% over 24 hours, while the small-cap CoinDesk 80 fell 5.1%. The CoinDesk 5, which tracks the largest cryptocurrencies, declined 2.3%.

The pace of selling moderated after midnight UTC. Eighty-six assets in the CoinDesk 100 remained lower, but the index had slipped only 0.54%, suggesting the bulk of the market damage occurred overnight.

There was little corresponding weakness in traditional markets. S&P 500 futures gained 0.22%, Nasdaq futures were flat, gold advanced 0.16% and the Dollar Index was unchanged. Markets were awaiting August U.S. producer price data on Thursday, followed by Friday’s CPI release, which could influence expectations for the Federal Reserve’s interest-rate decision next week.

Futures market shows growing caution

The brief improvement in crypto derivatives sentiment on Wednesday has reversed. The taker long/short volume ratio has turned bearish again as higher oil prices and elevated Treasury yields continue to weigh on bitcoin.

Total futures open interest declined 2% to $139 billion, while trading volume climbed 5%. The combination suggests increased trading activity alongside moderate capital leaving the market.

Bitcoin’s derivatives data also showed signs of growing bearish positioning. Velo data showed BTC down 1.5% over 24 hours while open interest rose slightly more than 1%. When price falls while OI increases, it can indicate that traders are adding short positions.

The 24-hour open-interest-adjusted cumulative volume delta for bitcoin was negative, showing that sellers were more aggressive and were using market orders to sell rather than passive limit orders.

Open interest declined across most major cryptocurrencies, including ETH, SOL, TRX, ZEC and BNB. Their 24-hour CVD readings were also negative, with DOGE and SUI recording the weakest readings among the major tokens.

Funding rates offered a contrasting signal. Annualized rates for most major cryptocurrencies remained moderately positive at around 5%. This indicates perpetual futures continued to trade at a premium to their index prices, reflecting continued demand for long positions. LTC and SHIB were exceptions, with both showing negative funding rates.

Bitcoin and ether’s 30-day implied volatility indexes have moved above their respective 50-day and 100-day averages. However, neither measure has risen sharply, suggesting traders still expect volatility to remain relatively contained despite the release of major U.S. economic data.

Options activity leaned toward downside protection. On Deribit, the $70,000 BTC put expiring Sept. 18 was the most actively traded bitcoin contract, followed by the $76,000 put expiring Sept. 11. In ether options, the $2,400 put expiring Sept. 11 was the leading contract.

Raydium bucks the market trend

Raydium continued to outperform the rest of the CoinDesk 100 for a second consecutive day. The Solana-based DEX token rose 8.5% since midnight UTC and gained 3.6% over 24 hours.

Privacy tokens produced mixed results. Monero climbed 2.1% over 24 hours to $513.73 after lagging on Wednesday. Zcash declined 2.36%, while Dash fell 3.23%.

Venice Token gained 6.5% since midnight to $24.20 but remained down 12% over 24 hours after surrendering part of Wednesday’s record rally.

Lighter fell 15% over 24 hours to $4.44, making it the second-worst performer in the index after Fartcoin.

Curve DAO was the biggest decliner during the session, losing 5.7% to trade near $0.34 and falling 8% over 24 hours. Starknet, Monad and IOTA each dropped roughly 5% since midnight UTC.

CoinMarketCap’s Altcoin Season Index stood at 38 out of 100. Although the reading is above the Sept. 1 low of 23, it remains below the Sept. 8 high of 51, pointing to a slowdown in the recent strength of altcoins.