Crypto Market Snapshot: BTC vs. Gold Ratio Hits Multi-Month Low

Bitcoin Trades Between $86K–$90K, Lags Behind Gold
Bitcoin (BTC) has edged higher since midnight UTC, holding a range between $86,000 and $90,000. Despite the uptick, BTC continues to underperform relative to gold, with the bitcoin-to-gold ratio dropping to 20.18—the lowest since January 1, 2024, according to TradingView.

The decline underscores continued investor preference for gold as a safe-haven amid concerns over fiscal policies and speculation about Federal Reserve rate cuts. The ratio could improve later Thursday if U.S. inflation data comes in below expectations, potentially encouraging risk-taking in broader markets.

Derivatives and Market Sentiment
Bitcoin’s 30-day implied volatility, tracked by Volmex’s BVIV index, has stalled near 50%, indicating muted expectations for near-term price swings. The U.S. Treasury MOVE index has fallen to 62.73, its lowest since October, typically a positive sign for risk assets.

SOL, TRX, and DOGE have seen rising open interest in futures markets. Funding rates for BNB, XRP, SOL, TRX, and DOGE have turned negative, with rising open interest in DOGE and TRX pointing to growing short positions.

Options data on Deribit show continued demand for BTC and ETH puts, reflecting persistent downside concerns. Recent block trades included call calendar spreads and strangles in BTC, and put spreads and strangles in ETH.

Yearn Finance Hit by Another Exploit
Yearn Finance, a pioneering DeFi yield aggregator, suffered another exploit this week, with roughly $300,000 drained from a legacy iEarn smart contract dating back six years. PeckShield reported that the stolen funds were converted to 103 ETH, valued at around $290,000.

Yearn confirmed that current vaults and contracts were unaffected. “The problem is exclusive to iEarn and does not impact current Yearn contracts or vaults,” the team said on X.

This is Yearn’s second exploit in December, following a $9 million theft earlier in the month. Following the latest incident, YFI dropped nearly 6% and has underperformed the broader market. Total value locked (TVL) on the platform has fallen over $50 million to $560 million since the first exploit