Bitcoin rebounds from $86,000 as downtrend persists; risk-off lifts gold and silver

Bitcoin (BTC $87,754) bounced off a one-month low of $86,000 on Sunday, coinciding with the reopening of CME futures at 23:00 UTC. The cryptocurrency climbed over 2% in the following nine hours before losing momentum near $88,250.

Despite the recovery, bitcoin remains in a sustained downtrend, marked by lower highs and lower lows since October, signaling early signs of a bear-market correction. Sunday’s selloff was driven by risk-off sentiment after a volatile week, including U.S. President Donald Trump’s Davos speeches on Greenland, tariffs, and global geopolitical tensions.

Gold and silver surged to record highs amid the same risk-off sentiment, underscoring bitcoin’s role as a risk asset more closely tied to equities than traditional safe havens.

Derivatives highlight near-term stress

BTC futures open interest stabilized at $22.6 billion despite the price drop, reflecting a pause in deleveraging. Funding rates averaged about 5% annualized across exchanges, with OKX diverging at -3.8%, signaling localized bearish positioning. The three-month annualized basis on Binance and Deribit rose just above 5%, suggesting institutional demand is gradually returning amid consolidation.

Options markets showed strong conviction: a 15% one-week 25-delta skew and 58% call dominance in 24-hour volume. The implied volatility term structure shifted into backwardation, with front-end volatility spiking to 41.5% and trending toward 47% in late 2026. Coinglass reported $744 million in 24-hour liquidations, led by ETH ($273M), BTC ($207M), and SOL ($63M), with $88,370 flagged as a critical liquidation level.

Altcoins rebound

Altcoins showed resilience overnight. Ether (ETH $2,929) and XRP ($1.89) rose 2.8%, while Zcash (ZEC $381) and Monero (XMR $467) gained 6% and 3%, respectively. Metaverse tokens outperformed, with Axie Infinity (AXS) up 23% and the CoinDesk Metaverse Select Index (MTVS) rising 6.9%, adding to a year-to-date gain of 34.4%.

The CoinDesk 20 (CD20) Index is down 0.52% since January 1, while the altcoin-heavy CoinDesk 80 (CD80) is up 2.5%, highlighting altcoin strength. RIVER, the token of its stablecoin protocol, has surged over 2,100% in 30 days, including a 34% gain in the past 24 hours. The “altcoin season” indicator sits at 28/100, above last month’s 16/100 but below September’s peak of 76/100.

Since October’s $19 billion liquidation cascade, thin liquidity and shallow order books have amplified altcoin volatility, producing both sharp selloffs and dramatic recoveries, as seen on Sunday.