• Bitcoin held near $77,800 on Monday after soaring about 24% last week, as traders paused following a Treasury buyback announcement that contributed to more than $3 billion in short liquidations.
• BTC was little changed from midnight UTC, taking a breather after posting its strongest weekly gain in more than three years.
• Bitcoin climbed from below $63,000 to nearly $79,500 last week, marking its best weekly performance since March 2023. The rally followed the U.S. Treasury’s decision to double buybacks of longer-dated bonds, which broke BTC out of a six-week range and forced more than $3 billion in short positions to unwind within 24 hours.
• Crypto and gold continued to outperform equities. Gold rose around 0.8% Monday and remained close to record highs as Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent’s debt strategy kept pressure on longer-term yields. The 30-year Treasury yield had briefly hit a 19-year high before retreating after the buyback announcement.
• Altcoins were broadly flat to slightly lower, signaling consolidation rather than a reversal. Bitcoin dominance remained around 59.2%, while the Altcoin Season Index rose to 42 from 33 on Friday. The reading still favors Bitcoin, suggesting last week’s altcoin gains were concentrated in select tokens rather than part of a broad rotation.

Derivatives Positioning

• Bitcoin futures open interest declines: BTC futures open interest fell to 715,000 BTC, its lowest level in two months, from 762,000 BTC on Aug. 18, according to CoinGlass. The decline indicates that spot purchases and short covering played a bigger role in the rally than new leveraged long positions.
• Major altcoins show similar behavior: Futures open interest for ETH, SOL and XRP also fell while prices climbed, reinforcing the view that the recent rally has been driven largely by spot demand.
• Zcash stands apart: ZEC futures open interest climbed to 2.24 million tokens from 1.81 million a week earlier, while the token gained more than 70%. Rising open interest alongside price is generally interpreted as evidence of strengthening bullish momentum.
• ZEC buyers lead the market: Zcash recorded the most positive OI-adjusted weekly cumulative volume delta among major cryptocurrencies, showing strong market-order buying pressure.
• Funding remains moderate: Annualized funding rates for BTC, ETH and other major tokens hovered near 10%. While the readings indicate a preference for bullish positioning, they remain well below levels typically associated with overheated leverage.
• Implied volatility climbs: Bitcoin’s 30-day implied volatility, measured by the BVIV index, rose to 47% annualized from 36% a week earlier. The increase is notable because implied volatility often rises when markets become more uncertain. Ether’s EVIV index has also moved higher.
• Options signal cautious bullishness: Short-dated call-put skew on Deribit turned positive, indicating that calls are commanding higher prices than puts. However, the 24-hour volume profile remained mixed, with the $70,000 put among the most actively traded contracts alongside several calls.

Token Talk

• Hyperliquid (HYPE): HYPE fell 3.3% to roughly $79.59 after reaching a record $83.30 late Sunday. It remains about 28% higher over the past week after ranking among the strongest performers during the rally.
• Aave (AAVE): AAVE slipped 0.6% to around $140.68 but remains up more than 62% over seven days. Trading volume stayed elevated as DeFi tokens benefited from stronger risk appetite.
• XRP: XRP declined 2.8% to $1.48, reversing some of Friday’s gains. The token is still up approximately 47% over the past week, putting it among the stronger large-cap performers.
• Morpho (MORPHO): MORPHO dropped 6.2% to about $2.73. Despite the pullback, it remained up 18% over 24 hours and 33% over seven days, suggesting traders were locking in profits after its sharp advance.
• Ethena (ENA): ENA was one of last week’s standout tokens, roughly doubling to $1.79 after rebounding from a prolonged downturn that had wiped out more than 90% of its value.