Bitcoin Stabilizes Around $76,900 as ETF Redemptions and Binance Withdrawals Weigh on Sentiment

Bitcoin made a modest recovery after falling to approximately $76,300 during European trading, advancing 0.2% to around $76,900 since midnight UTC. The cryptocurrency remained under pressure as investors continued withdrawing funds from US spot Bitcoin ETFs and Binance, while fresh security concerns added uncertainty to the market.

US-listed spot Bitcoin funds recorded $399 million in net outflows for a second consecutive session. Separately, Binance experienced cumulative net customer withdrawals of $4.72 billion after reopening services on Sunday.

Altcoins showed mixed performance. Ether gained 0.6%, and the DeFi index climbed 0.5%, while the CoinDesk Memecoin Index declined 0.8%.

ETF Selling and Exchange Withdrawals Continue

According to Farside Investors, US spot Bitcoin ETFs lost $399 million on Monday. BlackRock’s IBIT accounted for $405 million in withdrawals, marking its largest single-day outflow since June.

Binance also continued to experience significant withdrawals following the resumption of its services. Customers removed a net $4.72 billion, exceeding the $3.64 billion withdrawn on Sunday.

The latest exchange-related concerns coincided with another security incident involving Brazil’s Mercado Bitcoin. The platform reportedly suffered a breach in which approximately $40 million was taken from its hot wallets.

Meanwhile, US equity futures moved higher ahead of the midterm elections. Nasdaq futures added 0.3%, while Brent crude advanced 1.3% to approximately $106 per barrel. The gains followed a 1.1% decline in the Nasdaq Composite on Monday, driven by renewed selling in technology shares.

Market participants are also monitoring AMD’s earnings announcement after Tuesday’s closing bell and the US employment report expected on Friday.

Crypto Futures Activity Increases as Open Interest Contracts

Trading activity across crypto derivatives markets accelerated, with futures volume rising 51% over 24 hours to $168.1 billion.

However, total open interest declined 1.63% to $134.9 billion. This combination of increased turnover and reduced outstanding positions for a second consecutive day suggests that traders are adjusting existing exposure or exiting trades rather than building substantial new positions.

The upcoming US midterm election results, with initial outcomes and media projections expected on Wednesday, may be encouraging short-term trading.

Liquidations climbed 171% to $382.6 million, reflecting a sharp increase in forced closures of leveraged positions.

Selling activity held a narrow advantage, accounting for 51.12% of taker volume. The previous day’s buying and selling activity had been almost evenly balanced.

ETH Open Interest Falls More Sharply Than Bitcoin’s

Ether futures experienced a 2.18% decline in open interest, compared with a 0.83% drop in ETH’s price. The larger contraction suggests traders were actively closing positions and reducing their exposure.

Bitcoin futures open interest decreased 1.20%, almost matching the cryptocurrency’s 1.23% price decline.

Cumulative volume delta readings also highlighted a difference between the two assets. ETH maintained positive CVD, indicating that aggressive market buying exceeded selling. Bitcoin’s negative reading pointed to stronger selling through market orders.

Funding rates remained positive for both cryptocurrencies and increased from the previous day. As a result, traders holding long futures positions continued to pay short-position holders.

Zcash Leads Crypto Losses as Selling Pressure Intensifies

Zcash recorded the largest decline among the monitored cryptocurrencies, dropping 7.57%. Its futures open interest fell 6.13%, slightly less than its price movement.

The privacy-focused cryptocurrency also posted the weakest cumulative volume delta among major tokens, showing that aggressive selling orders outweighed buying activity.

ZEC’s funding rate remained positive but declined over the past 24 hours. Long traders were still paying short sellers, although the premium had become smaller.

Across major exchanges, positive funding continued to dominate. Cardano’s ADA, Sui’s SUI and NEAR recorded some of the highest readings across Binance, OKX, Bybit, Hyperliquid and Deribit.

Hedera’s HBAR and Chainlink’s LINK showed the most negative funding figures, although only on individual exchanges. No cryptocurrency recorded negative funding across all the platforms examined.

The 24-hour open-interest-adjusted CVD readings were negative for most tokens, indicating broader market-order selling. Tron (TRX) posted the strongest positive reading, while Zcash remained the weakest.

Bitcoin Options Traders Prepare for Election-Driven Volatility

Bitcoin options trading showed some renewed demand for calls. The November 7 contract with a $78,000 strike became the most actively traded BTC option over the latest 24-hour period, replacing the put-dominated activity seen previously.

The November 27 $75,000 put ranked second, followed by the November 27 $100,000 call. Nevertheless, put options still represented four of the six most actively traded contracts.

Short-term implied volatility increased significantly ahead of the US elections. The figure for the nearest Bitcoin options expiry climbed to approximately 51%, compared with 43.5% for the November 4 expiry recorded a day earlier.

Ether options displayed a similar trend, with near-term implied volatility reaching around 59%.

Short-dated volatility skew remained substantially above longer-term levels for both assets. This indicates that investors are paying more for put options, which provide protection against falling prices, than for comparable call options.

Ether Options Activity Shows Strong Demand for Puts

The options market for Ether displayed an even clearer preference for downside protection.

All six of the most actively traded ETH options over the past 24 hours were puts. The November 6 $1,900 contract led trading activity, with its strike price approximately 16% below the current spot value.

The concentration of put trading suggests investors remain concerned about further downside risk in the second-largest cryptocurrency.

Lighter Gains on CFTC Plans as NEAR Extends Its Decline

Lighter’s LIT token rose 2.3% after founder Vladimir Novakovski revealed that the perpetual futures platform intends to apply for US regulatory registrations this month.

The exchange plans to seek approval from the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) to operate as a trading venue and clearing house. However, submitting the applications would only begin the regulatory review and would not guarantee approval.

NEAR fell another 0.9%, extending its 24-hour losses to approximately 7%. The decline placed the token among the weakest performers in the CoinDesk 100.

The move lower continued despite a governance decision on Monday by NEAR’s House of Stake to reduce the maximum annual token issuance rate from 2.5% to 1.6%.

Zcash recovered 1.2% to approximately $1,146 after falling around 8% from Monday morning. The earlier weakness followed disagreements over its community grants program, while the NU7 network upgrade is expected this week.

DeFi Market Holds Up Better Than Other Crypto Sectors

Decentralized finance tokens showed relative resilience during the latest market session. Aave advanced 1.5%, while Uniswap gained 0.8%.

Their positive performance came despite several security incidents affecting cryptocurrency platforms since Friday, including the reported attack on Mercado Bitcoin.

Broader market sentiment remained cautious. CoinMarketCap’s Altcoin Season Index stayed at 46 out of 100, while its Fear and Greed Index slipped to 34 from 36, keeping overall sentiment in the fear category.