Bitcoin Takes the Lead in Recovery as Altcoins Bounce During Broader Market Slowdown

Bitcoin Climbs Back to $87K as Altcoins Rally on Improving Sentiment

Bitcoin BTC surged 1.8% to $87,250 on Tuesday, extending its recovery from last week’s pullback and helping lift major altcoins. SUI, ENA, BONK, and CC all gained over 8%, reflecting renewed investor appetite for riskier assets.

Despite the short-term rebound, the longer-term trend remains bearish. Bitcoin and Ether ETH continue to form lower highs and lower lows, maintaining the downtrend that started in early October.

The crypto recovery was supported by broader equities strength, with the Nasdaq Composite posting its largest daily gain since May on Monday, signaling growing risk appetite. BTC’s 30-day implied volatility (BVIV) fell to 55% from Friday’s 65%, suggesting reduced near-term turbulence, though volatility remains elevated historically.

Options data points to cautious optimism. BTC put skews remain elevated, showing downside concern, while interest in $100K calls has increased, pushing notional open interest to $2 billion, matching $85K and $80K puts. BTC call condors dominated 24-hour block trades targeting a range above $100K, while ETH options favored strangles. Calls tied to BlackRock’s IBIT ETF also saw renewed demand, though overall skews continue to favor protective puts.

In futures markets, XRP led top coins with a 12% increase in open interest to 1.84 billion XRP, the highest since October 11. BTC perpetual futures saw falling open interest, and funding rates turned negative for the first time in over five weeks, signaling a short bias.

Altcoins showed mixed performance. SUI and ENA rose over 11%, and ETH gained 3.3% to $2,880, with daily volume climbing 13% to $27.3 billion. ETH may start forming a bottom if it sustains levels near $3,500. Zcash (ZEC) dropped 6.6%, and DASH also lagged, despite broader market strength. The average crypto RSI stands at 50.34, indicating indecision amid a mix of sentiment signals and price volatility.