Bitcoin edged above $88,000 on Monday but lagged the broader rebound in U.S. equities, with the cryptocurrency still nursing losses from last week’s selloff. The modest move higher underscores the market’s cautious mood, as bullish conviction remains muted.
The original cryptocurrency began to recover over the weekend after slumping to a seven-month low of $80,554 on Friday. Bitcoin, which had tumbled more than 20% in the last four weeks, was up less than 1% to about $88,400 on Monday. Other smaller, more volatile tokens increased more, with XRP jumping about 7% and Solana about 3% higher.
While bitcoin is higher for a second day, traders see little cause for celebration. The wider crypto market is in a pronounced slump despite surging institutional adoption and a series of policy wins pushed for by President Trump, who has embraced the industry.
Technology stocks drove an advance in global equities on Monday as traders kicked off a data-packed week more optimistic that the Federal Reserve will cut interest rates in December.
“The lack of a broader ‘alt season’ in crypto and waning liquidity and underperformance relative to equity markets has made it more difficult to deploy meaningful capital into liquid strategies purely in crypto markets,” said Shiliang Tang, managing director of Monarq Asset Management.
In the crypto options market, traders are building downside protection at lower levels even with bitcoin prices having seen a slight rebound in the last 24 hours. Demand for put options at the strike of $80,000 has surpassed those at $85,000, becoming the most popular contracts, according to Coinbase-owned crypto exchange Deribit.
Meanwhile, the bitcoin funding rate — a key measure of crypto market sentiment — has turned negative in the last few days, according to CryptoQuant, meaning there is more demand for bearish bets in the perpetual futures market than bullish positions. That figure had been persistently positive even amid the market rout in recent weeks. The flip points to signs of deepening slump in digital assets as more traders bet against the largest cryptocurrency.
Without a turnaround, November will become bitcoin’s worst month since a string of corporate collapses rocked the crypto market in 2022, a wipeout that culminated in the downfall of Sam Bankman-Fried’s FTX exchange.
“If BTC is to test 100k again this side of Christmas it likely hinges on rate cuts, a pause next month could see prolonged period before 100k for the digital asset,” said Adam McCarthy, a research analyst at Kaiko.
Despite a weekend rebound, bitcoin remains about 30% below its record high last month, and it’s unclear how long the recovery will hold without stronger tailwinds. Open interest in perpetual futures has yet to bounce back, lingering 36% below its October peak of $94 billion.
Investors have withdrawn more than $3.5 billion from a group of U.S.-listed bitcoin exchange-traded funds, vehicles that have emerged as a major driver of the token’s price since their debut. A sustained reversal of those outflows has yet to emerge.
“Unlike prior crashes driven primarily by retail speculation, this year’s downturn has unfolded amid substantial institutional participation, policy shifts, and broader macroeconomic headwinds,” Deutsche Bank AG analysts wrote in a note Monday.
A recovery may also be restrained by the pressure on investors who entered the market at higher levels. Realized losses among short-term holders — wallets that have held bitcoin for less than 155 days — have climbed to $630 million per day, the highest since the June 2022 meltdown, according to Glassnode.
“Such elevated loss realization highlights the heavier top structure built between $106,000–$118,000, far denser than previous cycle peaks,” analysts at Glassnode said in a research note. “Either stronger demand must emerge to absorb distressed sellers, or the market will require a longer, deeper accumulation phase before regaining equilibrium.”
Ghosh and Pan write for Bloomberg.