A broad crypto rally lifted major tokens on Wednesday, with bitcoin and ether rebounding and most altcoins surging—even as ZEC extended its steep weekly decline.

Bitcoin jumped 6.6% over the past 24 hours to reclaim the $93,000 level, while ether edged back above $3,050, marking a welcome reversal after recent weakness.
One notable exception to the rebound was Zcash, which has been one of the market’s standout performers in recent months but is now down more than 38% over the past week as traders take profits following an extended overbought period.

Perpetual futures activity strengthened alongside the recovery. Trading volume across major perpetual exchanges rose more than 5% to $44 billion in the past day, signaling a blend of renewed spot buying and increased leveraged participation.

Demand for leveraged products appears to be stabilizing as futures open interest (OI) tied to most large-cap tokens—including BTC and ETH—climbed in step with spot prices. SUI, SOL, BNB, and ADA led the gains in OI. Funding rates remain broadly positive, reflecting a continued bias toward bullish long positioning, with TRX and WLFI standing as rare exceptions.

On the CME, however, regulated derivatives saw a notable pullback. Open interest in standard BTC futures dropped to 121,670 contracts, the lowest since February 2024. BTC options OI fell to 46,000 BTC, giving back gains accumulated since early October. The trend suggests waning institutional engagement with CME crypto products.
Ether futures positioning also lightened, with OI slipping to 1.95 million ETH—its lowest since September—and options OI dropping to 275,000 ETH from a recent peak near 351,000 ETH.

On Deribit, BTC and ETH put options continue to command premiums over calls, though the gap has narrowed since Monday. Block trading flows were dominated by BTC strangles and call butterfly structures, along with ETH put spreads and call diagonal calendar spreads.

Altcoins showed notable strength overnight, with several tokens logging double-digit gains and outperforming bitcoin’s 6.5% advance. Top performers included SUI and Chainlink’s LINK, which rallied 30.8% and 24%, respectively. The broad-based upside indicates that the bearish trend in place since early October may be weakening, opening the door for a potential bullish reversal.

Still, liquidity remains a concern. Market depth has not recovered since the October washout, increasing the likelihood of exaggerated price swings. Any negative catalyst could quickly push the market back toward key support areas.

Zcash continued to lag the broader rebound, falling another 3% in the past 24 hours and deepening its seven-day decline to 38% as traders unwind positions after a strong September–November surge.

The “altcoin season” indicator sits at 21/100—near historic lows—signaling that despite isolated outperformance, investor interest remains concentrated in bitcoin rather than more speculative altcoin plays.