Bitcoin is trading near $78,000, down 0.4% since midnight UTC and about 0.7% over the past seven days as the market consolidates after a short squeeze lifted the price from below $63,000 to nearly $81,400 last week.
Bitcoin’s relative strength has remained intact despite the calmer conditions. Nasdaq 100 futures are down 0.5% since midnight, meaning bitcoin is once again outperforming equities.
Spot bitcoin exchange-traded funds recorded $3.04 billion in net inflows across nine consecutive sessions, their longest streak since April. The run ended Friday with a $202 million outflow before resuming Monday with $217 million in fresh inflows, according to SoSoValue data.
Altcoins are mixed in the latest session. The Altcoin Season index has fallen to 26 out of 100 from 34 on Friday, its lowest reading in more than 90 days.
Crypto derivatives positioning remains balanced
Balanced positioning: The 24-hour taker buy-sell volume ratio in crypto futures markets has remained balanced for a second consecutive day. Open interest has held near $136 billion, while trading volume has declined 7%. The combination suggests traders are adding neither significant long nor short exposure and are waiting for a clearer market signal.
Arbitrum leads gainers: Arbitrum’s $ARB is the best-performing token among the top 100 cryptocurrencies over the past 24 hours, gaining nearly 30%. The rally is supported by increased futures participation, with open interest rising more than 10%. The data points to a buildup of long positions as $ARB attempts to establish support above chart resistance at 11 cents. Annualized funding rates near 8% suggest the market is not overheated.
Monero open interest continues to rise: Open interest in privacy-focused Monero futures has climbed to 640,000 tokens, the highest level since February 2024. The signals are mixed. Funding rates have dropped to 15% from more than 50%, suggesting bullish positions are no longer overcrowded. However, the 24-hour open-interest-adjusted cumulative volume delta is negative, indicating bearish leadership. XMR has already pulled back to around $525 from Monday’s high of $548.
Demand for $TRX shorts: Tron’s $TRX stands out with funding rates at minus 80%, signaling crowded bearish positioning. Short sellers are accepting a high cost to maintain their positions. $TRX is trading near 33 cents after falling for a third consecutive day.
Light positioning in bitcoin and ether: Open interest in $BTC and $ETH remains subdued, hovering near multi-week lows.
Volatility cools: Bitcoin’s and ether’s 30-day implied volatility indexes, BVIV and EVIV, have reversed their mid-August spikes, pointing to calmer market conditions.
Options flow turns bullish: In options listed on Deribit, the $80,000 bitcoin call expiring Sept. 25 was the most-traded position over the past 20 hours. A call represents a bullish bet on the underlying asset. For ether, the $2,500 call attracted the most activity.
Arbitrum leads the altcoin market
Arbitrum’s surge is the clearest standout across the altcoin sector. The rally is linked to Robinhood Chain, which operates as a dedicated Arbitrum chain and sends 10% of net protocol revenue to the Arbitrum ecosystem.
Offchain Labs co-founder Steven Goldfeder said Monday that Robinhood Chain’s 24-hour transaction revenue had exceeded $2 million, up from approximately $1.22 million the previous day. At that pace, Arbitrum’s share would amount to roughly $73 million annually.
ARK Invest’s Lorenzo Valente calculated that gross revenue on Robinhood Chain rose from $54,676 on Aug. 22 to $1.088 million on Aug. 30, an increase of nearly 20 times. Arbitrum’s share increased from $5,400 to $108,000 over the same period.
Curve DAO’s CRV$0.3586 rose 14% over 24 hours to approximately 35.13 cents on $119 million in trading volume. The move forms part of the broader decentralized finance rally that has lifted lending and decentralized exchange tokens through the second half of August.
Uniswap’s $UNI extended its gains, rising 8% since midnight to around $5.80 after advancing 12% over the previous 24 hours. The token is now up 34% over the past seven days on $519 million in volume.
Among the day’s smaller movers, Aave’s AAVE$126.93 gained 1.9% to $126.54, while Morpho’s MORPHO$2.5549 rose 2%. The moves suggest decentralized finance assets are holding up better than the broader crypto market during Tuesday’s session.
