Bitcoin News: BTC Holds $86K as Rally Fades and Brent Falls Under $100

Bitcoin remained above $86,000 during European trading as the broader crypto rally showed signs of losing momentum. BTC traded at $86,379, gaining 0.24% since midnight UTC and 1.3% over the past 24 hours. Trading volume fell sharply, however, dropping 36% to $38 billion.

The CoinDesk 100 index climbed 0.67% to 1,926.99, although 38 of its constituents were down on the day. On a rolling 24-hour basis, 87 tokens were higher and 13 were lower, suggesting the latest gains were concentrated in earlier trading.

XRP rose 3.3% to $1.62, while Bitcoin Cash gained 2% to $351.59. Ether slipped 0.089% to $2,750.24 and Chainlink was virtually unchanged.

Brent crude fell below $100, reaching $99.13 for the first time since Sept. 9. The benchmark had climbed as high as $108 earlier this month but has since retreated amid renewed expectations of progress in U.S.-Iran negotiations. A Qatari mediator was in New York for talks with U.S. officials, while Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian was scheduled to speak at the United Nations General Assembly.

Gold fell 0.85% to $4,321, while silver dropped 2.2% to $65.53. The dollar index rose 0.21% to 100.76, and U.S. stock futures were little changed.

Futures Market Turns More Defensive

Crypto futures volume fell 21% over 24 hours to $227 billion, while open interest increased 1% to $159.4 billion. Short taker volume accounted for 51%, giving sellers their first majority in more than a week.

The combination of lower activity and rising open interest, alongside greater short-side participation, points to more cautious positioning after the recent market advance.

Binance’s USDT margin borrowing rate was 5.49%, just below last week’s 5.52% and still the highest since October. The elevated rate reflects a relatively high cost for leveraged positions.

Bitcoin’s move below $86,000 also came without a meaningful increase in OI. Open interest remained close to Tuesday’s 710,000 BTC, suggesting traders were more focused on reducing existing exposure than opening a large number of fresh short positions.

Whale positioning weakened on Binance, where the long/short account ratio fell below 0.98 and the position ratio declined to 1.97 from above 2.3. Whale ratios on OKX and Bybit were near 1, showing a move toward more balanced positioning.

XRP futures open interest rose for a second consecutive session to 2.50 billion tokens, its highest level since Aug. 20. The increase was largely built during the earlier rally, rather than during the subsequent decline from $1.69 to $1.59. Coinglass described Binance whale positioning in XRP as “extremely bearish.”

Bitcoin Cash Surges After CME Announcement

Bitcoin Cash delivered the biggest move among major cryptocurrencies, jumping more than 30% over 24 hours to $351.59 after CME announced plans for BCH futures alongside Uniswap futures.

BCH open interest increased roughly 7% to its highest level since Aug. 22, while annualized funding reached 8%. Its positive OI-adjusted CVD was also the strongest among major tokens, indicating that increased long positioning accompanied the price surge.

Leverage has become elevated in several other markets. NEAR funding reached 43% annualized, while BTW funding moved above 100%, pointing to heavily concentrated long positioning.

Deribit’s DVOL remained around 38%, putting it near the 23rd percentile of its yearly range. The exchange said implied volatility remains relatively inexpensive compared with recent spot-market momentum.

Bitcoin options activity remained concentrated around the $90,000, $95,000 and $100,000 strikes, with much of the call exposure using condor and butterfly structures. Open interest at $75,000 and below indicates that lower levels remain important in options positioning.

DeFi Tokens Outperform Broader Memecoins

The altcoin market remained mixed. BONK climbed 14% since midnight and 17% over 24 hours, while PENGU rose 8.3% and 20%. The CoinDesk Memecoin Index, however, fell 0.31% on the day. SPX6900 declined 1.1%, PEPE dropped 1% and PUMP lost 1.9%.

LayerZero rose 22% over 24 hours to $1.44, while The Graph gained 14%, with most of their advances occurring earlier in the trading window.

The DeFi Select Index gained 0.83% on the day and 9.6% over 24 hours, making it the strongest-performing CoinDesk index group. Aave traded at $151.18, while Aerodrome Finance added 6.1%.

Among the weaker tokens, Worldcoin declined 3%, Polkadot fell 2.9% and Jito dropped 2.8%. Jito was also down 0.16% over 24 hours, highlighting the uneven distribution of gains across the crypto market.