Bitcoin remained under pressure as renewed losses across technology stocks weakened broader market sentiment, while reports of a potential leadership shake-up at Nvidia added to investor uncertainty. The cryptocurrency market also faced continued institutional selling, with U.S. spot Bitcoin ETFs registering $299.9 million in net outflows, marking their fifth consecutive day of withdrawals.

BTC declined 0.7% from midnight UTC to trade near $73,400, hovering close to its session low as weakness spread across technology shares. Ether (ETH) also slipped 0.5% to approximately $2,044, while the CoinDesk 80 Index dropped 1%. On a 24-hour basis, Bitcoin and Ether recorded losses of 0.8% and 0.7%, respectively.

Nvidia became a focal point for investors after its shares plunged around 7% in premarket trading. The decline followed reports from The New York Times about an alleged relationship between CEO Jensen Huang and a company executive, while The Wall Street Journal reported that the board was preparing to remove him. Nvidia has not confirmed any leadership changes.

The pressure extended beyond individual technology stocks, with Nasdaq-100 futures falling 0.6% and giving back some of Wednesday’s gains, which had been supported by optimism surrounding AI infrastructure firm CoreWeave.

Institutional demand for Bitcoin also remained weak. SoSoValue data showed that U.S. spot Bitcoin ETFs experienced $299.9 million in net outflows on Wednesday, extending their withdrawal streak to five consecutive trading sessions. Since November 5, cumulative outflows have reached approximately $1.44 billion.

BlackRock’s iShares Bitcoin Trust (IBIT) accounted for the majority of the latest withdrawals, losing $269.7 million. The fund has now experienced nine consecutive sessions of net outflows.

Investors are also watching the upcoming U.S. initial jobless claims report, scheduled for release at 13:30 UTC, alongside developments involving Nvidia’s board. Attention is additionally turning toward the Federal Reserve’s December 8–9 meeting, with CME FedWatch data pointing to roughly 90% odds of an interest rate hike.

Crypto Derivatives Activity Weakens as Traders Reduce Exposure

Cryptocurrency futures activity continues to decline: Total futures trading volume dropped 20.64% over 24 hours to $168.6 billion, while aggregate open interest fell 2.92% to $125.8 billion. The decline in both indicators suggests that market participants are cutting leverage and reducing their exposure. Liquidations decreased 63.67% to $263.7 million, with long positions representing 64.5% of the total losses.

Bitcoin derivatives maintain a bearish outlook: BTC futures open interest contracted 2.9%, compared with a 0.6% decline in Bitcoin’s spot price. Futures trading volume also decreased 27.6%, while cumulative volume delta (CVD) remained negative, indicating stronger selling activity through aggressive market orders. Funding rates remained moderately positive, meaning leveraged bullish traders continued paying short-position holders. Bitcoin recorded the highest liquidation figure among cryptocurrencies at $62.9 million.

Ether futures record the largest volume decline: ETH derivatives also showed signs of reduced participation, with open interest falling 1.8% alongside a 0.6% price decline. Trading volume plunged 37.2%, marking the sharpest contraction among major digital assets. However, Ether’s CVD remained neutral, suggesting a relatively even balance between buying and selling pressure. Funding rates stayed moderately positive, indicating that long traders continued compensating short sellers.

Monero perpetual funding rates climb to 80%: Monero (XMR) recorded an annualized average funding rate of approximately 80% across perpetual futures, significantly exceeding levels seen in other major cryptocurrencies. Elevated positive funding suggests that leveraged long traders are paying substantial premiums to maintain their positions. Bitcoin and Ether also recorded positive funding rates, but at considerably lower levels. GRAM, previously known as Toncoin, moved in the opposite direction with negative funding rates, meaning short traders were paying those holding long positions.

Negative CVD reflects widespread selling pressure: Open-interest-adjusted cumulative volume delta remained below zero for Bitcoin and several other leading cryptocurrencies. This indicates that aggressive market orders continued to favor sellers, reinforcing the cautious outlook across derivatives markets. GRAM, NEAR, and ZEC were among the relatively few tokens posting positive CVD readings.

DOGE and ZEC futures open interest declines: Dogecoin (DOGE) futures open interest decreased 5.9% as the token’s price slipped 1.5%. Zcash (ZEC) also recorded a 5.4% reduction in open interest despite a smaller 0.4% price decline. However, ZEC’s positive CVD suggested that buyers remained more aggressive in the spot and derivatives markets, even as outstanding futures positions declined.

Bitcoin options indicate continued demand for protection: BTC’s one-week options skew edged up to approximately 11%, showing that put options remained relatively more expensive than call options. Meanwhile, one-week implied volatility eased to around 35% from 38% on Tuesday, suggesting expectations of reduced short-term price fluctuations. Calls accounted for four of the six most actively traded contracts, with the $80,000 strike expiring December 25 leading activity. The remaining two contracts were puts at $73,000 and $74,000, both expiring November 13.

Ether options retain downside positioning: ETH’s one-week options skew climbed to approximately 12%, indicating stronger pricing for downside protection. Four of the six most actively traded contracts were puts, although the $2,200 call expiring November 20 attracted the highest trading activity.

GRAM Outperforms as DeFi Cryptocurrencies Face Selling Pressure

GRAM leads the CoinDesk 100 for a second consecutive day: GRAM, the renamed Toncoin, gained 5.2% since midnight UTC, securing the top position in the CoinDesk 100. Increasing engagement with Telegram’s integrated wallet ecosystem appears to be supporting demand. Telegram founder Pavel Durov recently announced that more than 700,000 wallets were created through the application in just 48 hours.

Zcash stages a recovery: ZEC advanced 2.4% following a weak start to the week. Meanwhile, a governance proposal is seeking approval to remove 50,000 ZEC, worth approximately $50 million, from the Zcash Community Grants treasury. Token holders are scheduled to vote on the initiative between November 16 and November 30.

Render loses ground amid Nvidia concerns: RENDER declined 3.1% as Nvidia’s share-price weakness affected sentiment toward AI-focused cryptocurrency projects. Render operates a decentralized GPU computing network, making it particularly exposed to changing investor perceptions of the artificial intelligence sector.

Avalanche rises on institutional tokenization plans: AVAX gained 2% following Monday’s announcement that a clearing company associated with a proposed NYSE-affiliated tokenized securities platform intends to build on Avalanche. The initiative remains subject to regulatory approval.

DeFi market capitalization faces additional pressure: The CoinDesk DeFi Select Index (DFX) declined 1.6%, reflecting broader weakness across decentralized finance tokens. Aave (AAVE), ether.fi (ETHFI), and Ethena (ENA) recorded losses ranging from 2.5% to 3.3%. Monero performed even worse, dropping 4.5% to become the weakest constituent of the CoinDesk 100, despite no clearly identified catalyst behind its decline.

Altcoin Season Index Signals Limited Recovery Potential

Market indicators continue to suggest that alternative cryptocurrencies are struggling to establish the conditions needed for a sustained market-wide rally.

CoinMarketCap’s Altcoin Season Index declined to 39 from 40 in the previous session. The reading remains far below the 75-point threshold commonly associated with the beginning of an altcoin season, indicating that Bitcoin continues to hold a stronger position in the broader market.

Investor sentiment also remains subdued. The Crypto Fear and Greed Index stood at 26, firmly within the fear category. Continued institutional withdrawals, reduced derivatives participation, and uncertainty across technology and financial markets are contributing to the cautious outlook across the cryptocurrency sector.