Traders Pile Into $50K BTC Put Options as Gold Futures Signal Bearish Crossover
Bitcoin fell to a September 2024 low of $57,700 before recovering, as options traders loaded up on $50,000 put contracts and gold futures flashed a death cross. A total of $395 million in crypto liquidations were recorded over 24 hours.
Bitcoin dropped to $57,700 early Wednesday — its lowest level since September 2024 — before recovering to $58,800. The move triggered $395 million in crypto futures liquidations over 24 hours, with bullish positions accounting for the majority of losses. Open interest in BTC futures climbed to 768,000 BTC from 740,000 BTC the previous day, though the directional bias remains unclear.
On Deribit, put options are trading at a premium to calls across all expiry timeframes, reflecting persistent demand for downside protection. A notable block trade recorded at over-the-counter desk Paradigm targeted a September expiry bitcoin put at the $50,000 strike price — a positioning that implies some participants anticipate a further decline of roughly 15% by the end of Q3 2026. Separately, a call option on Solana (SOL) at the $86 strike was lifted, even as the token trades near $75.
Bitcoin's annualized funding rate hovers around 5%, hinting at a marginal bullish bias in perpetual markets. However, the 24-hour cumulative volume delta is negative, indicating that bears are executing trades more aggressively through market orders rather than passive limit orders.
Gold perpetual futures open interest reached a record high of 222,000 XAU tokens on crypto exchanges. At the same time, gold's spot price is displaying a technical death cross, with the 50-day simple moving average crossing below the 200-day SMA. Major gold ETFs are showing the same bearish pattern.
Crude oil futures listed on crypto exchanges recorded $15 million in liquidations over the same 24-hour period — ranking fifth-largest among all tokens tracked — underscoring the growing popularity of traditional finance instruments on crypto platforms.
Bitcoin's 30-day implied volatility index (BVIV) is currently caught between the 200-day moving average acting as resistance and the 50-day moving average as support. A break above the 200-day level could signal renewed volatility and a deeper price slide.
Ether (ETH) is trading at $1,580, posting a modest recovery since 01:00 UTC. U.S. equity index futures are also lower, with S&P 500 and Nasdaq 100 contracts down 0.2%–0.4% since midnight UTC. Broader risk asset sentiment has been weighed down by inflation concerns, which have strengthened the U.S. dollar and increased trader caution in recent weeks.
In the altcoin market, Solana-based DEX aggregator Jupiter (JUP) bucked the trend, rising 11.5% since midnight UTC alongside a 55% surge in daily trading volume. The protocol's total value locked (TVL) climbed to over 20 million SOL from 13.9 million SOL in May.
Stellar (XLM) extended its weekly rally, advancing from $0.168 on Sunday to $0.196 — a gain of approximately 17%. Despite these isolated bright spots, CoinMarketCap's Altcoin Season index held at 48 out of 100 as of the end of June.
AI-related tokens fared poorly. Bittensor (TAO) declined 2.5% on Wednesday and is now down more than 30% since June 15, reflecting sustained selling pressure across the AI token segment.
