Bitcoin Price Moves, Gold Comparison
Bitcoin (BTC) has risen modestly since midnight UTC, trading between $86,000 and $90,000, but continues to underperform relative to gold. BTC is currently up 1.2% against the U.S. dollar, but the bitcoin-to-gold ratio has fallen to 20.18, the lowest since January 1, 2024, according to TradingView.

The decline highlights investor preference for gold as a safe-haven amid concerns over fiscal policies in advanced economies and ongoing discussions of Federal Reserve rate cuts. The ratio could improve if U.S. inflation data released later Thursday comes in below expectations, potentially boosting risk appetite in financial markets.

Derivatives and Market Positioning
Bitcoin’s 30-day implied volatility, tracked by Volmex’s BVIV index, has stalled around 50%, with no signs of an imminent uptick. Meanwhile, the MOVE index, which measures U.S. Treasury volatility, has fallen to 62.73, the lowest since October, a signal typically supportive of risk assets.

In the crypto futures markets, SOL, TRX, and DOGE have seen rising open interest (OI). Funding rates for BNB, XRP, SOL, TRX, and DOGE have turned negative, with increasing OI and negative rates in DOGE and TRX pointing to a build-up of short positions.

On Deribit, risk reversals continue to show a bias toward BTC and ETH puts, signaling ongoing downside concerns. Block trades have included call calendar spreads and strangles in BTC, as well as put spreads and strangles in ETH.

Token News: Yearn Finance Exploit
Yearn Finance, one of DeFi’s pioneering yield aggregators, suffered another exploit this week, with attackers draining roughly $300,000 from a legacy smart contract tied to iEarn, an early version of the protocol nearly six years old. Security firm PeckShield reported the stolen funds were swapped for 103 ETH, valued around $290,000.

Yearn clarified that the exploit did not impact current vaults or contracts. “The problem is exclusive to iEarn and does not impact current Yearn contracts or vaults,” the team stated on X.

This marks the second exploit Yearn has faced in December; earlier this month, attackers stole $9 million via a separate vulnerability. Following the latest incident, Yearn’s YFI token dropped nearly 6% and has underperformed the broader market. Total value locked (TVL) in the platform has declined by more than $50 million to $560 million since the first exploit.