Traders closed out nearly $483 million in bitcoin and ether futures positions over the 24 hours to Thursday, and ether accounted for almost 60% of that total even though its futures market is barely half the size of bitcoin’s, according to CoinDesk. That imbalance shows how far altcoins fell relative to bitcoin on the day.
Ether, XRP and Solana all posted larger percentage losses than bitcoin as macro pressure built across risk assets. Market analysts told Decrypt the gap reflects how high beta tokens react to tightening financial conditions, a pattern also showing up in equities.
Key Takeaways
- Ether futures liquidations totaled about $286 million in the 24 hours to Thursday, versus $197 million for bitcoin, even though bitcoin’s futures market is nearly twice as large, according to CoinDesk.
- Ethereum’s market cap fell 5.5% to $289 billion, XRP dropped 5.1% to $82.4 billion and Solana slid 3.8% to $60.6 billion, compared with bitcoin’s 3.1% daily decline, per Decrypt.
- The September consumer price index rose 3.7% year over year, and Myriad prediction markets priced a 28% chance of an October rate hike.
- Ethereum ETFs logged 11 straight days of net outflows totaling $782.8 million before a brief Tuesday inflow, followed by $129.5 million in renewed outflows, per CoinGlass data cited by Decrypt.
Ether Absorbs the Heaviest Liquidations
Ether futures took the largest hit in dollar terms despite a smaller market. CoinDesk reported outstanding ether contracts totaled about $30 billion against $52 billion for bitcoin, yet ether liquidations (about $286 million) outpaced bitcoin’s (about $197 million) over the same 24-hour window, checked during Asian morning hours via CoinGlass data.
Spot prices moved in step. Ether fell roughly 6.4% to about $2,356, while bitcoin dropped roughly 3.2% to around $81,000, CoinDesk reported. The selling reached smaller tokens too: Solana futures recorded about $31 million in liquidations as SOL fell roughly 5.5%, Zcash contracts added nearly $19 million in liquidations as ZEC dropped about 13%, and dogecoin fell roughly 6%, per the same report.
Altcoin Drawdowns Outpace Bitcoin’s
Decrypt’s market cap figures tell a similar story from a different angle. The total cryptocurrency market cap dropped 2.5% to $2.8 trillion over 24 hours. Ethereum’s market cap fell 5.5% to $289 billion, XRP fell 5.1% to $82.4 billion and Solana slipped 3.8% to $60.6 billion, while bitcoin’s market cap slid 3.1% on the day and 2.6% on the week to $1.6 trillion.
The Crypto News reported the same CPI, ETF and open interest figures as Decrypt, confirming the numbers came from the same CoinShares and Bitwise commentary rather than conflicting data sets.
Macro Pressure Behind the Selling
The trigger traces back to Wednesday’s inflation print. The consumer price index rose 3.7% in the year to September, and Myriad predictors put the odds of an October interest rate hike at 28%, per Decrypt.
Nick Forster, founder of options exchange Derive.xyz, said hedging activity on the platform doubled as whales pulled back on optimistic bets made in spring. “This immediate pull-back from long-term upside bets alongside aggressive short-term hedging shows a dramatic regime shift, with institutional participants rapidly reassessing their macro risk exposure as the path for interest rates turns murky again,” he said.
Luke Nolan, senior research associate at CoinShares, pointed to the U.S. dollar hitting a near 18-month high as additional downward pressure. He said crypto tends to carry an inverse correlation to the U.S. Dollar Index over a medium-term horizon, partly because crypto is priced in dollars and partly because a rising dollar tightens liquidity and reduces risk appetite.
Why Altcoins Move More in Both Directions
Nolan said altcoins, as high beta assets, absorb more of the damage when markets turn. “Alts are typically more sensitive to financial conditions, and tightening affects the premise of liquidity expanding,” he told Decrypt.
Max Shannon, senior associate at Bitwise Europe, framed the slide as a hangover from recent strength rather than a standalone shock. Futures open interest in altcoins excluding ether has fallen $8 billion since the start of October, which he said shows traders have “taken chips off the table” after a strong run.
Ether fits that pattern directly. The token outperformed bitcoin for three consecutive months, the first time it has done so since March 2021, and ether ETFs have been bleeding since: 11 straight days of net outflows totaling $782.8 million, a brief inflow on Tuesday, then $129.5 million in renewed net outflows per CoinGlass data. Shannon said altcoins tend to correlate closely with bitcoin in tough stretches and less so when idiosyncratic catalysts are driving gains, meaning alts could keep trading in lockstep with bitcoin for now, “albeit more sensitively.”
What to Watch
Nolan said he wants to see expectations for an October rate hike fall before he would call a recovery. He said he currently sees valid cases for either outcome: bitcoin losing support and altcoins bleeding further, or a short-term correction that fades if bitcoin pushes back above $80,000, which he said could produce an outsized upward move for altcoins.
