Bitcoin Falls Back to $83K as Altcoins Pull Lower After Friday Surge

Bitcoin slipped to $83,000 on Monday as traders took profits across the crypto market, sending many of Friday’s biggest gainers sharply lower.

BTC was trading at $83,055.83, down 1.7% since midnight UTC and 2.1% over the past 24 hours. The CoinDesk 100 index dropped 2.6% to 1,874.56, with 91 of its 100 constituents declining.

Quant (QNT) was among the biggest losers, falling 16% after surging 39% over the previous 24 hours. The Graph (GRT) dropped 12% after gaining 14% on Friday, while Ondo (ONDO) also lost 12%.

The pullback extended across sectors that had benefited from Friday’s rally. The DeFi Select Index (DFX) declined 6.4% on the day and 7.3% over 24 hours. The CoinDesk Computing Index (CPUS) fell 3.2% and 5%, respectively.

Crude Oil Reclaims $100

Renewed geopolitical tensions added to the pressure on risk assets after President Donald Trump rejected Iran’s conditions for reopening the Strait of Hormuz.

Iran had sought the release of frozen funds, the removal of oil sanctions and an end to the U.S. naval blockade of Iranian ports as part of its proposal.

Brent crude rose 3.2% to $100.83, returning above the $100 mark after falling below it Friday.

Gold fell 3.3% to $4,144, while silver declined 5.1% to $61. S&P 500 futures were down 0.44%, and Nasdaq 100 futures slipped 0.95%. The dollar index edged 0.06% higher to 101.09.

Crypto Leverage Continues to Unwind

Derivatives data showed trading activity accelerating even as traders reduced their outstanding positions.

Total crypto volume climbed 70% over 24 hours to $172 billion, while aggregate open interest declined 3% to $150 billion. The divergence suggests that much of the activity came from traders closing positions rather than establishing new leveraged bets.

At 09:50 UTC, taker long positions accounted for 46.9% of activity compared with 53.1% for shorts, giving sellers a modest advantage.

Bitcoin futures open interest fell to 650,000 BTC, its lowest level since March. Funding rates remained negative on major exchanges, indicating that the futures market continued to carry a bearish bias.

ETH Rally Relies More on Spot Demand

Ether open interest fell to 12.85 million ETH, compared with 13.95 million on July 1 and more than 15.65 million in late May.

ETH has nevertheless gained 68% since July 1. The combination of rising prices and declining open interest suggests that spot purchases, rather than increasing leverage, have been a major source of the rally. Solana has exhibited a similar trend.

XRP open interest briefly reached 2.46 billion XRP early Monday before easing to 2.37 billion.

Binance whale positioning remained divided. Large traders continued to favor bitcoin, although their bullish stance was weaker than Friday’s. Their positioning was bearish on ether and bullish on Solana. XRP also shifted back toward bearish positioning, though the move was less pronounced than Friday.

HBAR Open Interest Hits Record

HBAR was one of the few major tokens to move against the broader market. Its open interest reached a record 2.30 billion HBAR as its spot price climbed 48% over 24 hours.

However, derivatives indicators suggested that the rally was not being driven entirely by aggressive buyers. The 24-hour open-interest-adjusted cumulative volume delta was negative, while annualized funding remained only slightly above zero, leaving room for short positions to be building.

Bitcoin’s implied volatility remained relatively contained. BVIV rose to 37.4% after falling below 36%, while EVIV showed a similar move. The VIX stood at 16 Friday after trading below 14.

Deribit Options Highlight Different ETH, BTC Bets

The $84,000 bitcoin put expiring Sept. 30 was the most actively traded BTC options contract on Deribit.

Ether options showed stronger upside interest, with the $2,850 call expiring Oct. 20 recording the highest activity.

DeFi Tokens Lead Monday’s Declines

HBAR gained 13% since midnight and 14% over 24 hours to approximately $0.11, making it the only CoinDesk 100 constituent to rise more than 3% during the session.

The token has traded in consolidation since its advance from below $0.08 during the week of Sept. 19. No new catalyst was directly tied to Monday’s move, although The Hashgraph Group added its Hedera-based IDTrust identity platform to IBM’s cloud catalog on Sept. 23.

Among other tokens, QNT fell 16% to $240.59, GRT declined 12% and FARTCOIN dropped 12%. KITE lost 11%, while TIA fell 9.1%.

The DeFi complex also came under heavy selling pressure. UNI declined 7.9% to $8.91 and was down 11% over 24 hours. MORPHO fell 7.5% on the day and 8.5% over 24 hours, while ONDO dropped 12%. The DeFi sector index fell 6.4% after gaining 8.7% during the previous 24-hour period.

BCH dropped 7.7% to $306.69 and was down 10% over 24 hours. SUI fell 6.2%, while SOL declined 2.9% to $118.41.

A handful of tokens remained higher. ALGO and XDC each gained 2.3%, JST rose 1.3% and IOTA added 1.0%. All four were also in positive territory over 24 hours.

Despite the widespread losses, CoinMarketCap’s altcoin season index remained at 65 out of 100, its highest reading in more than three months.