Bitcoin Futures Optimism Hits 20-Month High: Altcoins Under Pressure

While Bitcoin pauses around $64,000, the surge in futures funding rates to a 20-month high and the continued selling pressure on altcoins despite BTC’s positive CVD indicate that the rally is not broad-based.

Bitcoin is trading at $64,130.46 according to CoinDesk data, down 0.6% since midnight. After rising from $62,600 on Monday, Bitcoin has stabilized around $64,000.

Bullish sentiment in the derivatives market is concentrated particularly in Bitcoin. According to CryptoQuant data, funding rates for perpetual futures contracts hit a 20-month high. The taker volume ratio, which measures the buy-sell flow of investors executing immediate trades at available prices, has also turned bullish from neutral levels, with the share of long positions exceeding 51%. While Bitcoin futures open interest remains around the 750,000 BTC level it has held for weeks, SOL open interest rose to 66.88 million tokens, reaching its highest level since July 10.

Bitcoin’s rally failed to spread to altcoins

CVD shows the difference between buys and sells executed via market orders. Bitcoin’s 24-hour positive CVD value indicates that buyers are being more aggressive in trades, while the CVD for many major altcoins, including ETH, SOL, LTC, LINK, and DOGE, remains negative. This divergence reveals that optimism is currently concentrated primarily in BTC.

On the XLM front, a -28% funding rate indicates strong bearish expectations. The token’s open interest increased by 3.5% in the last 24 hours, reaching its highest level since June 4. While upside bets are maintained in the options market, the $70,000 strike price Bitcoin call option expiring on September 25 was the most traded BTC option in the last 24 hours.

While rising bond yields and Brent crude returning to $94 exert pressure on the market, the Fed minutes expected to be released tomorrow and Donald Trump’s White House meeting with crypto CEOs are among the key headlines impacting price action.