Bitcoin recovered to around $81,200 after falling to just above $80,000 during the session, down approximately 0.5% since midnight UTC. The move came as Asian equity markets led a broader sell-off, with South Korea's Kospi index dropping 8% and triggering circuit breakers.
Altcoins bore heavier losses than bitcoin. Ether fell 2% near $2,370, while the CoinDesk 80 index of larger-cap tokens declined 2.2% compared to a 0.7% drop in the CoinDesk 5. Lower market-cap tokens saw the sharpest moves, with pump.fun falling 9.4% and the CoinDesk Memecoin Index losing 4%, leaving all but six members of the CoinDesk 100 lower.
Market conditions and liquidations. Nearly $1 billion in crypto futures bets were liquidated over 24 hours following a hotter-than-expected inflation report on Wednesday, up from approximately $136 million the previous day. Ether saw more liquidations than bitcoin, with $200 million in long positions closed compared to $115 million in bitcoin, indicating heavier leverage in ether.
The Federal Reserve interest-rate hike odds retreated to approximately 26% after spiking to nearly 47% following Wednesday's inflation data. Nasdaq 100 futures slid about 1%, extending the previous day's 1.9% drop in the Nasdaq Composite.
Trading activity and positioning. 24-hour crypto futures volume reached $252 billion, up 61% from the prior period, while open interest remained largely unchanged at $139.6 billion. Bitcoin's perpetual funding rate remained positive, indicating longs were still paying to hold positions. Bitcoin's implied volatility index held above 40%, reflecting renewed demand for options.
Individual token moves. Starknet gained 11% after a 17% decline on October 13. Pyth network rose 2.8%, extending a rally that began October 8 following a DAO vote to direct product revenue into monthly buybacks. Larger names including Tron held up better, with minimal moves, while Monero fell 0.55%.
