If Bitcoin Were a Playwright: Drama, Leverage, and $64B Acts Unfold

by

Markets

What to know:

  • Bitcoin, that capricious actor, flirted with $112,900, and Ether strutted about at $4,150-while open interest coyly returned to $31 billion, as if to say, “Look at me, I’m back.”
  • Futures basis took a sigh of relief, returning to 7%, funding rates warmed to a positive glow, and calls outnumbered puts like an overcrowded theater-65% of options volume, if you please-signaling a curious blend of hope and dread.
  • Aster, with leverage up to a dizzying 300x, swelled its daily trading volume to a staggering $64 billion, overshadowing HyperLiquid’s timid $7.6 billion. And yet, both ASTER and HYPE tokens stumbled, victims of a broader altcoin melancholy.

Our heroes, Crypto Majors BTC and ETH, took their modest bows on Tuesday Stage as the market, fatigued but hopeful, began to steady after Monday’s theatrical recovery.

Bitcoin traded at $112,900, while Ether pirouetted around $4,150-gaining a respectable 0.78% and 1.1%, respectively. Meanwhile, futures open interest crept upward from $29 billion to $31 billion, a sign perhaps that traders, in their eternal folly, smell opportunity.

The main spectacle on Tuesday was the altcoin circus. The upstart Aster, a decentralized exchange with the charm of a magician, conjured $64 billion in daily volume by tempting traders with up to 300x leverage-because what’s life without a little dizziness?

Derivatives Positioning

by Jacob Joseph

  • Signs of a potential bull revival flicker on the horizon, as open interest and basis metrics awaken from their slumber.
  • BTC futures open interest swelled to roughly $31 billion, climbing delicately from a recent monthly low of $29 billion. Binance leads this grand parade with $12.7 billion, no less.
  • The three-month annualized basis edged upward to 7%, a slight but welcome nod towards profitability in basis trades.
  • The BTC options market remains a riddle wrapped in a paradox, hiding behind contradictory signals.
  • Though short-term options’ 25 delta skew shrinks-traders essentially buying insurance against disasters-the put-call volume paints a different, more optimistic portrait.
  • In a plot twist worthy of the Bard, calls now dominate 65% of the volume, reviving hopes of a short-term rally amidst the gloom.
  • Thus, the market resembles a room full of people eyeing each other nervously, some ready to hedge, others eagerly speculating-an exquisite masquerade of mixed sentiment.
  • Funding rates on major stages like Binance and OKX have turned buoyant, climbing to around 7% and 10%, a subtle invitation for the brave to take long positions while the shorts pay the piper.
  • HyperLiquid’s funding rate remains a restless creature, but the overall mood hints at a cautious yet budding confidence.
  • Coinglass reports $316 million in liquidations over 24 hours, split 44-56 between longs and shorts, with ETH ($73 million) and BTC ($70 million) leading the unfortunate dance. Binance’s liquidation heatmap warns that $115,000 might be the next dramatic barrier to watch.

Token Talk

By Oliver Knight

  • The skirmish between Aster and HyperLiquid escalates-a veritable duel of volume and leverage.
  • Aster’s trading volume on BNB Chain ballooned to $64 billion, a colossus next to HyperLiquid’s modest $7.6 billion, according to DefiLlama.
  • Max Arch from BoltLiquidity serves as our cynical correspondent: traders chase leverage like moths to a flame-100x to 300x on Aster versus only 40x on HyperLiquid-pretending quality matters.
  • Yet, Arch remarks with dry wit that only about 6% of Aster’s volume comes from wash trading-far less charlatanry than one might expect in this theatrical market.
  • Alas, the tokens ASTER and HYPE cannot escape the tragic fate of the broader altcoin sell-off, sliding from their highs like weary actors at the end of a long run.
  • With $200 billion fleeing the sector last week, one wonders if the drama has finally exhausted its audience.

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2025-09-30 16:37