Crypto Markets Today: Altcoins Surge as Bitcoin Rebounds to $106.5K on U.S. Dividend Optimism

The crypto market enjoyed a period of upside over the weekend following two consecutive losing weeks. Bitcoin BTC$90,330.17 rose 4% in the past 24 hours and having risen as high as $106,500 is now trading around $106,000 as it attempts to steer itself away from the psychological level of support at $100,000. Ether ETH$3,202.49 added 6.5%.

The altcoin market outperformed bitcoin, with bitcoin dominance falling to 59.1% from the Nov. 5 high of 60.1%. This is a signal that the touted $2,000 tariff dividend payment in the U.S. will serve as a boost to altcoins, as it did during the Covid-era.

Decentralized finance (DeFi) protocols also saw a boost, with total value locked (TVL) rising to $142.8 billion, according to DeFiLlama data. Starknet Bridge TVL rose 20% to $913 million and Suilend also increased 20%.

The rise in TVL might be attributed to asset appreciation, but since the SUI token is up only 7%, it's more indicative of investors depositing to generate a yield, reflecting confidence in the market.

Derivatives positioning

By Omkar Godbole

• Despite BTC's swift bounce to $106,000, options on Deribit continue to show a bias for puts across all tenors. In ETH's case, calls are trading at a premium to puts from the January expiry, indicating a bullish outlook.
• Block flows featured a long position in the $99,000 put expiring Nov. 14 and a bull call spread in ether, involving calls at $3,900 and $4,400 strikes, both expiring on Nov. 21.
• Overall, options flow has been mixed with call fly buyers suggesting optimism and call spread sellers expecting capped rallies.
• In the futures market, XRP, LTC and LINK have seen a double-digit growth in open interest (OI) in past 24 hours, validating gains in their spot prices. OI also increased in other major tokens, including BTC and ETH, indicating renewed capital inflows.
• The OI-adjusted cumulative volume delta for most tokens, excluding ZEC and BCH, is negative for the past 24 hours, a sign that while spot prices rallied, futures saw net selling. The divergence raises a question as to the sustainability of gains.
• DOT stands out with negative funding rates, pointing to a bias for bearish short positions.

Token Talk

By Oliver Knight

• The altcoin market experienced a much needed boost on Monday, buoyed by President Donald Trump's announcement of a $2,000 tariff-related dividend being lined up for U.S. citizens.
• One of the top gainers was Trump-linked WLFI$0.1476, which rose 26% during Asian hours on Monday.
• XRP, XLM and HBAR all posted gains of more than 10% over the past 24 hours. These three tokens are favored by retail investors, suggesting that the move is backed by those who might receive the dividend as opposed to institutional flows via ETFs.
• CoinMarketCap's "altcoin season" indicator has risen to 34/100 from a 90 day low of 23/100, demonstrating strength across the altcoin market relative to bitcoin BTC$90,330.17, which ticked up to $106,500 on Monday.
• One sector that cooled was privacy coins: Monero XMR$402.31 and dash DASH$47.39 both posted marginal losses following significant rallies over the past two weeks.
• The decentralized finance (DeFi) market also showed signs of a reversal, with total value locked (TVL) across all protocols rising to $142.8 billion from $136.2 billion going into the weekend, according to DefiLlama.