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Crypto Markets Today: Bitcoin Tests Key Support as Bullish Optimism Fades
Bitcoin steadies around $111,000 after a bruising sell-off, as derivatives and options data show mixed signals between cautious futures traders and bullish options buyers.
Oct 14, 2025, 12:48 p.m.
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What to know:
- Bitcoin is holding above the key $110,000 support after dropping from $121,000, erasing about $500 billion from total crypto market capitalization.
- Futures open interest remains stable at $25.5 billion, but mixed funding rates hint at divided sentiment; options traders, meanwhile, are paying heavy premiums for upside exposure.
- Plasma (XPL) is down 58% in a week amid tokenomics concerns, while FET, OP, and ETHFI have each fallen over 35% in the same period.
Bitcoin is trading at $111,000 on Tuesday as it clings on to the critical level $110,000 level of support.
The world's largest cryptocurrency has struggled to to recover from a weekend sell-off that saw it tumble from $121,000 to $110,000, wiping out $500 billion in terms of overal crypto market cap.
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Altcoins have performed even worse of late; plasma is down by 58% in a week while FET, OP and ETHFI all lost more than 35% of their value respectively.
Derivatives Positioning
- The BTC futures market appears to be stabilizing following its recent volatility. Open interest has settled around $25.5 billion, showing no major change from yesterday after the weekend's significant drop. The 3-month annualized basis is now trading in a lower range of 5-6%, a drop from its earlier rebound and indicating a slight cooling of bullish sentiment. A key divergence remains in funding rates, with Bybit's rate turning negative at -5%, while Hyperliquid's remains positive at 10%. This suggests a mixed and complex market sentiment, with strong but isolated long and short conviction across different platforms.
- The BTC options market is showing a significant bullish acceleration. The 24-hour Put/Call Volume is now roughly balanced at a 50-50 split, a shift from being call-dominated, while the 1-week 25 Delta Skew has spiked dramatically to 12.62%. This high positive skew indicates a substantial premium for call options over puts, showing that traders are aggressively positioning for upside price action and are willing to pay a premium for bullish exposure.
- Coinglass data shows $627 million in 24 hour liquidations, with a 70-30 split between longs and shorts. ETH ($185 million), BTC ($125 million) and Others ($69 million) were the leaders in terms of notional liquidations. Binance liquidation heatmap indicates $110,600 as a core liquidation level to monitor, in case of a price drop.
Token Talk
By Oliver Knight
- Plasma XPL$0.4163 fell another 13.5% on Tuesday, extending its losses to 52% since debuting in late September.
- The stablecoin-focused layer-1 blockchain faces skepticism over its tokenomics and large “ecosystem & growth” allocations.
- Circulating supply stands at 1.8 billion against a total of 10 billion, pointing to years of potential sell pressure as vested tokens unlock.
- Tokens were sold in the public round at $0.05 each, leaving ICO buyers comfortably in profit at current prices of around $0.41.
- Investors who bought after exchange listings are facing steep losses amid weak market sentiment.
- Analysts expect continued downward pressure once early investor tokens become fully liquid, ICOdrops data shows a major unlock will occur in Q2 of 2026.
