Bitcoin dropped 2.5% to $62,300, while ether saw a decline of over 4%, with $717 million in liquidations exacerbating losses in altcoins.
By Oliver Knight, Omkar Godbole|Edited by Sheldon Reback Jun 23, 2026, 10:45 a.m. 3 min readMake preferred on ShareShare this articleCopy linkX (Twitter)LinkedInFacebookEmailMake preferred on Bitcoin price (CoinDesk data)SummaryShow- Derivatives indicate a rising bearish sentiment, with sellers exerting control over most of the top 25 cryptocurrencies.
- The options market structure leading into Friday's quarterly expiry favors long calls, although these bullish positions are currently unprofitable due to falling spot prices.
- Privacy tokens DASH and XMR resisted the downturn, experiencing losses of less than 1%, while the overall crypto RSI averages at 39.05, suggesting potential for a relief rally.
On Tuesday, the cryptocurrency market witnessed a downturn, with bitcoin BTC$62,765.58 trading at $62,300, reflecting a 2.5% drop since midnight UTC. Meanwhile, ether (ETH) fell over 4% to $1,650.
This decline is linked to Monday's fall in tech stocks, with Nasdaq 100 futures indicating a further drop of 2.5% since midnight.
According to Patrick Munnelly, a market strategy partner at TickMill, technology stocks are facing challenges due to profit-taking and concerns regarding rising bond yields.
In contrast to bitcoin and ether, altcoins fared worse, with tokens like ethena (ENA) and hype (HYPE) losing between 5% and 6%. Additionally, $717 million in liquidations across the market contributed to the intensified declines.
The Dollar Index (DXY) surged to its highest level in over a year, reaching 101.15, marking the highest since May 2025.
Derivatives Positioning
- A significant indicator in derivatives is the 10% increase in open interest (OI) for SpaceX perpetuals on platforms like Hyperliquid and Binance, despite a 15% price drop.
- This trend confirms the ongoing downtrend and suggests a preference for leveraging short positions. The OI surge is the highest among major tokens, indicating a stronger interest in traditional assets over blockchain-based ones.
- SpaceX futures have now become the sixth-largest globally, surpassing several well-known coins such as ZEC, but still lagging behind BTC, ETH, and XRP.
- XRP futures' open interest rose to 2.38 billion tokens, reaching eight-month highs, coinciding with a nearly 2% decline in the token for the week, following a 5% drop the previous week.
- This pattern, similar to SpaceX, reinforces the downtrend, especially as the OI-adjusted 24-hour cumulative volume delta (CVD) has been negative for two consecutive days, indicating that price movements are being driven by traders shorting at market prices rather than through passive limit orders.
- Traders are reducing their exposure to BTC futures, with open interest decreasing from 742K BTC last week to 720K BTC. Earlier this month, it peaked at 800K BTC.
- In the case of ether, futures open interest has bounced back from five-week lows to 14.13 million ETH, although overall positioning remains light compared to the peak of 15.98 million ETH on May 28.
- In general, sellers appear to dominate the majority of the top 25 cryptocurrencies, with most showing negative OI-adjusted 24-hour CVD.
- Traders are also monitoring bitcoin's 30-day implied volatility index, BVIV, which has risen from 40%, indicating increased demand for options. Ether's volatility index, EVIV, follows a similar trajectory. Rising volatility indexes often accompany bearish price trends.
- The options market shows a structure favoring long calls ahead of the quarterly expiry on Friday. However, these long positions are currently at a loss due to the decline in spot prices over the quarter, while put options are in profit.
- Put-call skews indicate that the market is still investing in downside protection, reflecting ongoing cautious sentiment.
Token Insights
- Despite the overall market downturn on Tuesday, privacy coins DASH and XMR demonstrated resilience, with DASH experiencing just a 0.2% loss and XMR approximately 0.7%.
- Conversely, zcash (ZEC), another privacy coin, was affected by an AI-related exploit earlier this month, losing 4.2% in the same timeframe, aligning with the broader altcoin market decline.
- AI-related tokens such as FET, RENDER, and TAO also faced challenges, declining by 3% to 5% as negative sentiment from tech stocks impacted the crypto sector.
- A silver lining for investors is that the average relative strength index (RSI) for cryptocurrencies is currently at 39.05, indicating "oversold" conditions that could facilitate a rebound or relief rally during the day.
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CEX Volumes Drop to Lowest Since September 2024 as RWA Perps Hit Record High
CEX Volumes Drop to Lowest Since September 2024 as RWA Perps Hit Record High
In May, combined exchange volumes fell 3.45% to $4.41T; the lowest since September 2024. RWA perpetual futures volumes rose 10.4% against the trend, hitting a new all-time high.
By CoinDesk ResearchJun 15, 2026In May, combined exchange volumes fell 3.45% to $4.41T; the lowest since September 2024. RWA perpetual futures volumes rose 10.4% against the trend, hitting a new all-time high.
Why it matters:
In May, combined exchange volumes fell 3.45% to $4.41T; the lowest since September 2024. RWA perpetual futures volumes rose 10.4% against the trend, hitting a new all-time high.
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