Crypto markets remained largely directionless Tuesday after hopes of a quick resolution to the Strait of Hormuz standoff faded. President Donald Trump’s demand that Iran provide 50 years of compensation before negotiations can move forward pushed Brent crude back toward $89 a barrel and revived pressure on risk assets.

Brent reached $89.08, more than 12% above last week’s low, as expectations for an immediate diplomatic breakthrough weakened.

Bitcoin gained 0.26% from midnight UTC but was still down 1.68% over the past 24 hours. Ether fell 2.4%, while U.S. equity futures remained broadly unchanged as investors positioned ahead of Wednesday’s consumer price index report, the week’s main macroeconomic event.

Bitcoin also faced selling pressure after Strategy disclosed another sale of 1,690 BTC on Monday. The move marked its fourth consecutive weekly reduction, with the company having made no bitcoin purchases since June.

Derivatives Market

Crypto futures turnover jumped 51% over 24 hours to $143.15 billion. Despite the sharp increase in volume, aggregate open interest remained near $115.6 billion, indicating that traders were changing positions rather than significantly increasing overall exposure.

The long-short taker ratio returned to roughly even levels. Buyers and sellers each accounted for close to half of market-order volume, reversing the bullish imbalance recorded the previous day.

XRP posted the strongest growth in open interest, with outstanding futures contracts increasing 14% to 2.72 billion tokens. The figure is the highest since October and comes as XRP remains close to the $1 mark, a level that could be lost for the first time since 2024.

XRP’s negative 24-hour cumulative volume delta indicates that market-order selling is currently stronger than aggressive buying. Short sellers are pressing the market more actively, although funding rates have remained slightly positive.

Among other assets, LINK, ETH and HBAR recorded increases in open interest, while CC, ZEC and AVAX saw the largest declines.

Bearish pressure was widespread, with most major cryptocurrencies, including bitcoin, showing negative CVD readings over the past 24 hours. LINK and TRX were notable exceptions.

Funding rates also showed contrasting positioning. Monero’s annualized funding rate stood near 39%, reflecting strong demand for bullish positions, while CC’s rate was around -14%, signaling a pronounced bearish tilt.

Bitcoin’s 30-day implied volatility index, BVIV, rose almost 5% to 38.64%. The move pushed the gauge above its long-standing support near 36% as BTC slipped below $64,000. A sustained rise in BVIV could signal further volatility because the index has historically moved inversely to bitcoin’s spot price.

Options markets were becoming more cautious as well. One-week call skew for bitcoin and ether on Deribit weakened and could turn negative. A hotter-than-expected CPI report could reinforce expectations that the Federal Reserve will keep interest rates elevated for longer, potentially adding to downside risk.

For now, one-week implied volatility for both assets remains subdued, indicating that traders are not yet pricing in major stress around the inflation data.

There was still meaningful demand for upside exposure. Among the most actively traded options were the BTC $70,000 call and ETH $2,000 call, both expiring Sept. 25.

Token Performance

CRV was the strongest performer among the highlighted tokens, climbing 9.49% in 24 hours and extending its seven-day gain to 27.29%. The Curve DAO token has remained resilient despite weakness across the broader crypto market.

LIT from Lighter rose 6.40% to roughly $2.43 over 24 hours and added 2.26% since midnight. It has gained nearly 20% over the past week as the decentralized derivatives token continues its recovery from July’s selloff.

LINK advanced 2.59% since midnight and is now 4.40% higher over seven days. The rally comes amid growing interest in blockchain oracle networks and the expanding tokenization of real-world assets.

ZEC was among the biggest decliners, falling 1.97% since midnight to around $486. The privacy-focused token has surrendered some of its recent gains after a strong period of outperformance. Monero also declined 0.72%.

Altcoin sentiment improved modestly. CoinMarketCap’s Altcoin Season indicator climbed to 41 out of 100 from 37 on Monday, suggesting traders were beginning to rotate into cryptocurrencies that had recently experienced heavier selling.