The cryptocurrency market witnessed an unusual bout of volatility during Monday’s Asian trading session. Bitcoin ($BTC) plunged over 5%, dropping from $66,215.58 to around $64,270 shortly after midnight UTC, before rebounding to approximately $66,300 by 11:00 UTC.
This sharp decline and subsequent recovery mirrored movements seen in U.S. stock markets. Futures linked to the S&P 500 index declined by 0.84% following Sunday evening’s open but began recovering about five hours later.
In contrast, gold futures surged during Sunday night’s opening session to reach their highest level since January 30th before easing off somewhat throughout European trading hours. Silver prices followed a similar pattern alongside gold.
The rise in precious metals coincided with weaker performance across riskier assets and was influenced by U.S. President Donald Trump announcing plans for new global tariffs of 15%. Additionally, increased U.S. military activity near Iran triggered a flight toward safe-haven investments.
Altcoins faced pressure amid thin liquidity overnight; tokens like Solana ($SOL) and SUI dropped between 7% and 8% before recovering during European sessions. This volatility resulted in roughly $270 million worth of altcoin liquidations according to CoinGlass data.
Derivatives Market Insights
Interest in leveraged crypto products remains subdued as total open interest for crypto futures has lingered below the $100 billion mark for more than two weeks straight.
Forced liquidations have compounded this trend — exchanges closed out positions valued at half a billion dollars within the last day due to margin calls.
Despite these challenges, traders continue allocating capital into futures tied to tokens representing traditional assets such as gold; Tether Gold (XAUT) futures saw a notable increase of about 14% in open interest over the past day even while major cryptocurrencies like $BTC, $ETH, $SOL, HYPE, DOGE experienced outflows.
ZEC and CRO stand out as the only coins showing positive cumulative volume delta (CVD) over twenty-four hours—indicating buyer strength—whereas bitcoin and other leading tokens display negative CVDs reflecting dominant selling pressure.
The Bitcoin Volatility Index (BVIV), measuring implied volatility over thirty days, surged nearly nine percent surpassing sixty percent—a sign that market anxiety is rising again.
Put options on bitcoin at strike prices around $58K, $60K & $62K gained traction amid uncertainty fueled by Trump’s tariff announcements.
On Deribit exchange specifically, puts on both bitcoin and ether traded at premiums compared with calls across all maturities signaling persistent downside concerns among investors.
Altcoin Market Update
The altcoin sector remained under pressure on Monday following an exaggerated selloff sparked primarily by weakness seen in bitcoin coupled with declines across U.S equities.
Low liquidity conditions contributed heavily: pump.fun’s native token PUMP fell approximately eight-and-a-half percent before staging some recovery while Layer Zero (ZRO) dropped sharply early Sunday losing sixteen-and-a-half percent within twenty-four hours prior to bouncing back around four o’clock UTC.
A handful of altcoins bucked this trend though — ETHFI (Restaking Token) climbed more than ten percent from its morning lows,
and Telegram-associated Toncoin (TON) showed relative resilience dipping just three point six percent overnight then rallying nearly five percent afterward.
CoinDesk’s DeFi Select Index (DFX) emerged as one of the better performers losing only about one point eight four percent versus steeper losses recorded by CoinDesk Smart Contract Platform Select Index (-3.56%) & Computing Select Index (-3.23%).
Throughout February most altcoins have closely tracked bitcoin movements but low liquidity amplified price swings significantly.
Should bitcoin establish a local bottom soon & push back above seventy thousand dollars—for example—it could pave way for several altcoins poised for substantial gains given order books were cleared earlier this month causing thinner market depth overall.
amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;