Crypto Markets Today: NIGHT Plummets, Broader Market Slides Amid Year-End Volatility

Note: Crypto Markets Today will be on hiatus starting Wednesday and will return Jan. 5 with regular trading updates and market analysis. Wishing everyone a happy holiday season!

It’s another risk-off session in the crypto market. Cardano-based Midnight Network’s governance token, NIGHT, tumbled 22% in 24 hours, making it the worst performer among the top 100 cryptocurrencies by market capitalization. The reasons behind the sell-off remain unclear. Other tokens also traded in the red: PUMP fell 13%, while MNT, XMR, and ZEC dropped as much as 8%.

Bitcoin (BTC $87,363.32) slipped back below $88,000 after failing to sustain momentum above the $90,000 resistance level on Monday. Market volatility could pick up later Tuesday following the release of U.S. third-quarter GDP data, expected to show a resilient economy.

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Derivatives Positioning

• BTC futures: Global cumulative open interest (OI) remains around 670,000 BTC, slightly dipping over the past 24 hours, signaling subdued activity in leveraged markets.
• SOL futures: OI rose to 58.75 million SOL, the highest since Oct. 10, indicating increased participation.
• XRP & ETH futures: XRP OI increased 1.28%, while ETH dropped 1.7%.
• Perpetual funding rates: Most major cryptocurrencies remain slightly positive, favoring bullish bets. BCH and LINK stand out with negative rates.
• CME BTC futures: Open interest continues sliding alongside weak spot ETF demand, reflecting waning institutional interest in carry trades.
• Options positioning: Deribit put skews for BTC and ETH strengthened after BTC failed to hold above $90,000. The most popular January expiry play is the $80,000 BTC put. Strangles and straddles accounted for 35% of block flows in the past 24 hours, signaling bets on volatility. ETH block flows have been dominated by call spreads.

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Token Talk

Only a small fraction of 2025 token launches are trading above their debut valuations. An analysis of 118 tokens by Memento Research shows:

• Just 15% remain above their token generation event (TGE) price.
• Median losses: ~71% in fully diluted value (FDV) and 66% by market capitalization.
• Tokens with the highest starting valuations fared worst: none of the 28 tokens with FDV ≥ $1 billion are above water, with a median decline of 81%.
• Big-name launches dragged down averages; FDV-weighted performance fell 61.5%, compared to a 33.3% drop for an equal-weighted basket.
• Sector performance: Infrastructure, DeFi, and AI-linked tokens generally declined, while perpetual DEX tokens—like Hyperliquid and Aster—were notable exceptions.