Bitcoin extended its recovery on Monday, trading around $82,500 as improving sentiment across global markets supported cryptocurrency prices. Stronger-than-expected Chinese economic growth and a rebound in Nasdaq futures helped lift risk assets, while DeFi tokens led gains across the altcoin market.

BTC rose approximately 0.5% from midnight UTC, extending its recovery from Sunday’s low near $80,700. The cryptocurrency also remained above the brief dip below $80,000 recorded on Thursday.

Altcoins generally outperformed Bitcoin. Ether (ETH) gained 0.75% to around $2,430, while the CoinDesk 80 index (CD80) advanced 0.9%, compared with a 0.35% rise in the Bitcoin-heavy CoinDesk 5 (CD5). DeFi was the strongest-performing sector in CoinDesk’s benchmarks, climbing 0.81%, with all six components of the DFX sector index recording gains.

The recovery followed a difficult week for U.S. technology stocks. The Nasdaq dropped 4.5%, marking its largest weekly decline since June, as concerns about artificial intelligence spending and rising debt weighed on investor confidence. CoreWeave (CRWV) fell 25% during the sell-off.

On Monday, Nasdaq 100 futures rose more than 1%, tracking gains in Asian equities. Sentiment improved after China reported third-quarter GDP growth of 4.5%, beating expectations, while oil prices declined. Investors are also preparing for earnings reports from Meta Platforms (META) and Tesla (TSLA) later this week.

Crypto derivatives and positioning

Futures trading increases sharply while open interest remains subdued. Total cryptocurrency futures volume climbed 51% over 24 hours to $146 billion, while open interest rose only 1.25% to $141 billion. This suggests traders were exchanging more contracts without significantly increasing their overall exposure. Liquidations reached $329 million, broadly unchanged from the previous day, while the taker long-short volume ratio remained balanced.

Major cryptocurrencies attract additional derivatives exposure. Bitcoin, Ether, Solana and XRP all posted gains, with their notional open interest increasing faster than their prices. This points to fresh capital entering derivatives markets. Annualized perpetual funding rates were positive across all four assets, meaning traders holding long positions were paying to maintain them. However, open-interest-adjusted cumulative volume delta remained flat to negative over 24 hours, indicating that aggressive selling matched or exceeded buying. This suggests the rally may be driven more by positioning than by strong spot demand.

Dogecoin, Uniswap and crude oil futures see positions unwind. Open interest declined across DOGE, UNI and crude oil perpetual contracts despite largely flat or negative price action. The movement suggests traders are closing positions and reducing exposure rather than building additional bearish bets.

Cardano gains despite persistent short positioning. ADA rose nearly 1% over 24 hours, but its annualized perpetual funding rate remained negative at -8%, the only negative reading among major cryptocurrencies. Short sellers are paying to keep their positions open, while cumulative volume delta is also negative. A continued recovery could force some short sellers to close positions, creating additional buying pressure.

Crypto volatility remains calm despite a VIX spike. Bitcoin’s and Ether’s 30-day implied volatility gauges, BVIV and EVIV, continued to signal relatively subdued conditions even after Wall Street’s VIX rose sharply on Friday. Historical patterns suggest the VIX could move back toward normal levels on Monday.

Bitcoin put options dominate Deribit activity. The five most actively traded options on Deribit over the previous 24 hours were all Bitcoin puts with strike prices below the current market price. These contracts are commonly used to protect long holdings against potential declines, suggesting some traders are hedging their exposure. Ether options flows were more mixed.

Altcoin developments

Arbitrum advances following a stablecoin incentive initiative. ARB rose 6.7% to approximately $0.20 after the Arbitrum Foundation announced its Stablecoin Growth Program on Thursday. The initiative allocates 2 million ARB to the first 10 teams that hold $10 million in USDG, a dollar-pegged stablecoin issued by Paxos Digital Singapore. ARB has gained 16.45% since the announcement.

Pump.fun rebounds as trading volume doubles. PUMP, the token linked to the Solana memecoin launchpad, climbed 7.6%, recovering some of its weekend losses after falling to around $0.0039 on Sunday. No clear news catalyst was identified, but its 24-hour trading volume doubled to $215 million.

DeFi tokens lead the sector’s recovery. Uniswap (UNI) gained 3.2% to roughly $7.42, while Lido (LDO) rose 2.5% and Ethena (ENA) added 1.6%. The gains came as DeFi assets continued recovering from pressure associated with last month’s delay in the Clarity Act and declining yields.

Celestia and Starknet retreat. Celestia (TIA) fell 3.9% to about $0.61, giving back part of Friday’s 16% rally. Starknet (STRK) slipped 1% to approximately $0.06. CoinDesk data indicates STRK’s market value has declined around 25% since Friday morning.

Among other major cryptocurrencies, Solana (SOL) advanced 1.6% to roughly $106, XRP gained 0.6% and BNB rose 0.36%. Cardano (ADA) edged down 0.15%, while Hedera (HBAR) lost 0.83%.

The Altcoin Season Index stood at 56 out of 100, down from last week’s peak of 63, which was the highest reading recorded so far in 2026.