Bitcoin clears $94,500 as altcoins steal the spotlight: Crypto Markets Today

The crypto market kicked off Wednesday in jubilant fashion as bitcoin BTC$66,988.52 broke above $94,500 for the first time since November and several altcoins posted double-digit gains.

The move comes after a strong start to the year for precious metals in light of political and economic turmoil in Venezuela and Iran, which put bitcoin's "safe haven" narrative firmly back on the table.

While bitcoin's rally — 3% since the move started on Tuesday — left around $500 million in liquidations in its wake, the move was overshadowed by gains in DASH, OP and ENA, all of which rose by more than 10%.

DASH's gain early Tuesday was a signal of what was to come. The privacy coin notched its largest daily increase since 2021 in a show of altcoin optimism. The move extended into Wednesday as it added another 28% since midnight UTC.

Prices elsewhere consolidated, with the with day-to-date move on the CoinDesk 20 (CD20) index of biggest tokens settling at negative 0.53%. The altcoin-focused CoinDesk 80 index (CD80) rose by 0.57%.

Derivatives positioning

• Exchanges have liquidated over $680 million worth of leveraged crypto futures bets over 24 hours, with bearish bets accounting for most of the tally. The leverage was clearly caught off guard by the surge in prices.
• Open interest (OI) in futures tied to major tokens, including bitcoin and ether ETH$1,961.10, has increased by 4% or more. OI in non-serious tokens like DOGE and FARTCOIN rose by 10% and 13%, respectively, in a sign of renewed buildup of speculative excess.
• Still, the market doesn't look overheated. Funding rates for major tokens remain at around 10%, indicating moderately bullish positioning.
• BTC and ETH's 30-day implied volatility indexes are extending declines, validating the increase in the spot prices.
• On Deribit, bitcoin call options, or bullish bets, at strike prices $96,000, $98,000 and $100,000 have seen the most activity in the past 24 hours. However, put options, or bearish bets, continue to trade at a premium to calls over the medium term. The same can be said for ether.
• Block flows featured demand for BTC call spreads.

Token talk

• Altcoins outpaced bitcoin and other major cryptocurrencies including XRP, BNB and SOL, all of which rose between 2.5% and 4.1% over the past 24 hours.
• Tokens like ENA$0.1154, TIA$0.3226 and PUMP all added more than 10% while memecoins pepe (PEPE) and BONK$0.0₅5973 rose by 12% and 9.5% respectively, with the bulk of the move occurring at around 22:00 UTC on Tuesday.
• Trading volume also rose, with ether ETH$1,961.10 trading pairs increasing by 83% to $34 billion over the past 24 hours.
• Despite being backed by heavy volume, there are signs the market is becoming slightly overheated and may enter a period of profit-taking and consolidation.
• CoinMarketCap's average relative strength index (RSI) is in "overbought" territory, with BTC, ETH, BNB and SOL all at the upper band of the RSI.
• All eyes will now be on the U.S. market open at around 14:30 UTC, a period that has caused spikes in volatility in recent weeks across the crypto market.
• If bitcoin can hold firm above $94,500 and establish that level as support, altcoins will likely benefit as traders rotate into more speculative bets in light of notable strength over the past 24 hours.