Here’s another rewritten version with a distinct flow and a tighter financial-reporting style:

Bitcoin stabilized following Monday’s selloff as traders weighed escalating Middle East tensions, continued weakness in gold, and a sharp decline in South Korea’s stock market that triggered a surge in cryptocurrency trading activity.

The leading cryptocurrency traded around $62,600 after sliding from roughly $64,400 to $61,800 during the previous 24-hour period before finding some stability.

Ether showed a similar pattern, holding within a narrow range of $1,770 to $1,790. ETH trading volume increased 2.2% over the past day to $8.95 billion, suggesting steady market participation and balanced buying and selling activity.

Lighter (LIT) rebounded from Monday’s weakness, rising 5.7% since the start of UTC trading as the token attempts another move higher after its more than 200% rally since May.

U.S. equity futures were mixed, with Nasdaq 100 futures gaining 0.31% while S&P 500 futures slipped 0.12%. Markets remained cautious after President Donald Trump warned of potential “very heavy” strikes against Iran, adding to geopolitical uncertainty.

Gold extended its decline from its January record peak, falling toward $4,020 per ounce and marking a roughly 28% drop since Jan. 29.

Bitcoin derivatives show limited stress

Bitcoin derivatives markets remained stable, with open interest unchanged near $17.1 billion and the three-month annualized basis holding at 3.8%. Funding rates across major exchanges remained positive, ranging between 0% and 8%, while Bybit’s previous negative funding imbalance normalized.

The data indicates traders have not significantly increased leverage, and there are no major signs of stress developing across futures markets.

Options markets maintained a bullish tilt, though demand for calls has weakened. The 24-hour call-to-put ratio eased to 58/42 from 64/36, while the one-week delta skew narrowed to around 15% from 26% a week earlier.

The options term structure remained in contango, with near-term implied volatility around 31%–32% and longer-dated volatility near 43%. Deribit’s DVOL index stood at 37.43, remaining close to multi-year lows and pointing to subdued volatility expectations.

Crypto liquidations totaled $283 million over the last 24 hours, according to CoinGlass data. Long positions accounted for 74% of liquidated positions, while shorts represented 26%. Bitcoin recorded the largest share at $66 million, followed by Ether at $50 million.

The Binance liquidation heatmap highlights $61,300 as a key level to watch if Bitcoin comes under renewed selling pressure.

Altcoins show signs of recovery

Ethena (ENA) advanced 5.7% on Tuesday, matching Lighter’s rebound and leading gains across the altcoin market. However, ENA remains far below previous highs after losing more than 90% since its September peak.

AI-related tokens also gained ground, with NEAR rising 3.3% and FET climbing 1.7%.

Jupiter (JUP) and WLFI continued to face pressure, falling 1.5% and 0.5%, respectively, as trading activity weakened.

CoinMarketCap’s Altcoin Season Index improved to 54/100, signaling a modest increase in risk appetite after spending much of June below the 50 mark.

South Korea’s stock market decline may provide a boost to crypto activity. The KOSPI index has fallen 10% since Friday, while domestic crypto exchanges have seen a sharp increase in trading volumes.

Wu Blockchain reported that Upbit’s trading volume surged 1,426% after the equity selloff, indicating investors may be rotating back into crypto following a period of heavy interest in semiconductor and technology stocks.