Bitcoin (BTC) Revisits $67K on Leverage Flush, APE Options Fly

This article originally appeared in First Mover, CoinDesk's daily newsletter, putting the latest moves in crypto markets in context.

First Mover Americas: BTC Drops Below $67K on Broad Sell-Off, Options Traders Bet Big on APE

The latest price moves in crypto markets in context for Oct. 22, 2024.

Election 2024 coverage presented by

This article originally appeared in First Mover, CoinDesk’s daily newsletter, putting the latest moves in crypto markets in context. Subscribe to get it in your inbox every day.

Latest Prices

CoinDesk 20 Index: 2,083.25 -1.73%

Bitcoin (BTC): $67,275.58 -1.53%

Ether (ETH): $2,633.54 -2.74%

S&P 500: 5,853.98 -0.18%

Gold: $2,738.92 +0.64%

Nikkei 225: 38,411.96 -1.39%

Top Stories

Bitcoin fell by 2% to drop below $67,000 on Monday after its weekend push to nearly $70,000 failed to hold. The decline comes as a continued uptick in the U.S. Treasury yields dents the appeal of riskier assets. ETH and XRP have both fallen by more than 3%, while SOL and DOGE are down around 1.65% and 2.35% respectively. The CoinDesk 20 Index, which offers a weighted measurement of the broader crypto market, is down by more than 2%. Over $165 million in longs were liquidated across crypto futures tracking major tokens in a sign of a leverage flush, according to data by Coinglass. The use of leverage spiked over the weekend in a move that historically precedes market volatility.

Options traders on crypto derivatives platform PowerTrade showed a bullish response to the APE ecosystem and native token launch with a surge in activity. Open interest surged by over 800% to reach 263,000 ($394.5K) in a day, PowerTrade told CoinDesk, adding that call options or derivatives account for over 80% of the tally. Most activity is concentrated on the Oct. 22 and Oct. 25 expiry contracts, with traders buying higher strike calls at strikes as high as $2.2 or nearly 50% higher than APE's going market price. The activity in APE options is noteworthy, considering the token has a market capitalization of just $1 billion. That said, open interest and volume are way lower than the billions of dollars locked in BTC and ETH options contracts listed on Deribit.

Stripe's acquisition of crypto startup Bridge “validates” the use of stablecoins for public blockchains, broker Bernstein said in a new research report. Stripe -finally acquired Bridge in a $1.1 billion deal, which is the largest crypto acquisition by a major payments company to date. Companies such as Bridge "play an important role by building API software for businesses to integrate stablecoin payments within their regular payments experience," the authors wrote. It's hard to see a more disruptive challenge to the TradFi banking system, "payments at scale without the involvement of a bank," the report added.

Chart of the Day

- Omkar Godbole

Trending Posts

Edited by

Disclosure

Please note that our privacy policy, terms of use, cookies, and do not sell my personal information policies apply to CoinDesk.コインデスクは、デジタル資産とブロックチェーンテクノロジーを報道する最先端のメディア機関です。同社は、仮想通貨の価格を追跡する主要なCoinDesk 20インデックスを作成しています。ᴊ