From CoinDesk · By Oliver Knight, Omkar Godbole
Bitcoin fell below $84,000 after Iran stepped up attacks on tankers in the Strait of Hormuz, sending Brent above $101 a barrel and lifting Treasury yields and the dollar.
Losses ran deeper among smaller tokens, with the CoinDesk 80 down nearly 4% over 24 hours, while liquidations climbed 235% to $547 million.
Optimism's OP fell 10% to lead the CoinDesk 100 lower after Pudgy Penguins' Abstract became the second Ethereum layer-2 network to shut down in a week.
Bitcoin BTC$83,791.57 slipped below $84,000 shortly after midnight UTC after Iran stepped up attacks on tankers in the Strait of Hormuz, pushing Brent Crude above $101 a barrel and lifting Treasury yields and the dollar.
The damage grew heavier further down the market, as the CoinDesk 80, which tracks a wide basket of smaller tokens, lost nearly 4% over the past 24 hours, against 2.5% for the CoinDesk 5. DeFi tokens fell almost 6% while the Memecoin Index tumbled by around 5%. Only a handful of tokens including SAND, PUMP and STX have managed to rise since midnight UTC.
Liquidations climbed 235% to $547 million over the past 24 hours, according to CoinGlass. Ether ETH$2,581.99 positions accounted for $174 million of that as it trades at $2,600 having lost 3.5% since midnight.
Demand from U.S. spot bitcoin ETFs had held up going into the drop. The funds took in $119 million on Tuesday, according to SoSoValue, their fourth day of inflows in the last five sessions.
Minutes of the Fed's September meeting, when it raised rates by a quarter point, are due later Wednesday. Weaker jobs data has made another increase this month look less likely, Dan Khus, chief analyst at LVRG Research, told CoinDesk. Traders will be watching whether the minutes sound patient or still point to one more hike before year-end, he said.
Derivatives positioning
Liquidations surge as traders stay cautious: Futures trading volume rose 16% to $182.85 billion over the past 24 hours, while open interest (OI) slipped just 1% to $152.60 billion. Liquidations jumped 216% to $548 million, and shorts accounted for over 52% of taker volume. Rising volume with flat OI and a seller-heavy tape points to active repositioning rather than fresh bullish bets.
Bitcoin leverage demand remains weak: BTC futures OI rose to 660,000 BTC, extending its recovery from an 11-month low of 626,000 BTC on Sept. 30. That's still far below the record high of 800,000 BTC set earlier this year. The rebound is too small to signal a return of leveraged bullish bets.
Whales split across exchanges: Whale accounts and positions on Binance lean bullish on BTC, while those on OKX are bearish to neutral, according to Coinglass. On Binance, the whale bias is bearish for ETH, SOL and XRP. The mixed signals suggest big players aren't aligned on direction.