Crypto Market Update: Altcoins Rally While BTC Faces Derivative Caution; YZY Traders Take Losses

The crypto market showed a mixed picture on Thursday, with altcoins outperforming Bitcoin as traders weighed both price movements and derivatives activity.

The CoinDesk 80 Index, which tracks a broad set of smaller tokens, rose 4% in the past 24 hours, while the CoinDesk 20 Index of major cryptocurrencies gained less than 1%. Bitcoin’s price recovery, approaching $113,600, is drawing attention to potential seller activity at key resistance levels.

“Bitcoin is forming its third consecutive rising daily candle, trading above $113K on Thursday morning,” said Alex Kuptsikevich, chief market analyst at FxPro. “Altcoin strength, combined with gains in stock indices, has boosted risk appetite, while BTC’s dip to $110K restored its appeal to buyers.”

Derivatives Positioning
Despite Bitcoin’s modest gains, derivatives data suggest caution: open interest (OI) in USDT- and dollar-denominated perpetual futures across major exchanges—including Binance, Bybit, OKX, Deribit, and Hyperliquid—has declined, alongside low spot volumes. Ether shows a similar trend. This divergence between price and derivatives activity raises questions about the sustainability of recent gains.

• Futures OI for SOL, DOGE, and ADA increased, while other major coins saw capital outflows.
• Funding rates across most major coins dropped near zero, indicating neutral sentiment.
• On the CME, BTC futures OI remains below December highs; the three-month annualized basis is under 10%, but BTC options OI surged to 42.89K BTC, the highest since May 29.
• For ETH, CME futures OI hit a record 2.2 million ETH, signaling robust institutional involvement.
• Deribit data show BTC put options trading at higher premiums than calls across all expiries, highlighting a bearish shift. ETH’s call bias has weakened since early this week.
• On OTC network Paradigm, block flows included BTC butterfly options and an outright purchase of the Aug. 30 ETH $5,000 call.

Token Spotlight: YZY
The Solana-based YZY memecoin, linked to Ye (Kanye West), continues to leave the majority of buyers in the red. Bubblemaps reports more than 70,000 wallets with losses following the token’s launch, which was promoted as part of a “YZY Money” ecosystem with payment rails and a branded card.

• 51,800+ wallets lost $1–$1,000
• 5,269 wallets lost $1,000–$10,000
• 1,025 wallets lost $10,000–$100,000
• 108 wallets suffered six-figure losses; three traders lost over $1 million each
• Only 11 wallets profited $1 million+, 99 gained over $100,000, and 2,541 earned at least $1,000—meaning fewer than 0.1% captured meaningful upside

Structural issues fueled the disparity. About 70% of supply was reserved for Yeezy Investments LLC, 20% sold to the public, and 10% allocated for liquidity. The liquidity pool, composed solely of YZY tokens without a stablecoin pair, left the market vulnerable to rapid withdrawals, echoing the short-lived LIBRA token collapse in Argentina.

The YZY outcome reflects a common trend among celebrity-backed memecoins: early insiders capture most gains, while retail investors bear the brunt of losses.