Key Takeaways
- • Bitcoin held near $74,000 on Wednesday, Nov. 11, 2026, even as stock index futures rebounded, after a hotter-than-expected October CPI print (+0.4% month over month) pushed the odds of a Federal Reserve rate hike at its Dec. 8-9 meeting to about 90% per CME FedWatch.
- • U.S. spot bitcoin ETFs lost $95 million on Tuesday per SoSoValue, extending outflows to a fourth straight day; BlackRock's IBIT accounted for $78 million of the redemptions, its eighth consecutive session of outflows.
- • Crypto futures liquidations surged 288% to $725 million over 24 hours per CoinGlass, with open interest down 1% to $127.2 billion, indicating traders closing positions rather than adding exposure.
- • Bitcoin options positioning remained defensive: put volume ran 1.5 times call volume for Deribit expiries from Nov. 12 to Nov. 27, with eight of the ten most active contracts being puts at strikes between $69,000 and $74,000.
- • Altcoins continued to lag, with CoinMarketCap's Altcoin Season index at 40 (down from 49 the prior Thursday) and the Fear and Greed Index at 26, in fear territory.
Summary
Bitcoin traded little changed from midnight UTC at around $74,000 on Wednesday, stabilizing after dipping to $72,700 on Tuesday, according to CoinDesk. Ether held near $2,050. The move diverged from equities: Nasdaq-100 futures rose 1.7% early Wednesday after AI cloud provider CoreWeave beat earnings estimates, but crypto did not follow. The macro backdrop weighed on digital assets after the U.S. reported that consumer prices rose 0.4% in October, above forecasts. That print lifted the probability of a Federal Reserve rate increase at its Dec. 8-9 meeting to roughly 90%, per CME FedWatch. The U.S. bond market was closed for Veterans Day.
Spot bitcoin ETF flows remained negative. U.S. spot bitcoin ETFs lost $95 million on Tuesday, according to SoSoValue, extending outflows to a fourth consecutive day. BlackRock's IBIT accounted for $78 million of that total and recorded its eighth straight session of redemptions.
Derivatives data pointed to deleveraging. According to CoinGlass, crypto futures liquidations jumped 288% to $725 million in 24 hours, coinciding with the inflation release, while trading volume rose 24% to $204.8 billion and open interest slipped 1% to $127.2 billion. Bitcoin open interest fell 0.2% against a 0.6% price decline, with roughly 85% of the $200.5 million in bitcoin liquidations coming from longs. Funding remained mildly positive at 0.0078%, below the 0.01% baseline, and the taker buy/sell ratio of 0.97 indicated sellers in control. Ether liquidations of $253 million exceeded bitcoin's despite ether open interest being about half the size of bitcoin's, at $25.2 billion.
Options markets showed continued demand for downside protection. Put volume was 1.5 times call volume across Deribit expiries from Nov. 12 to Nov. 27, with the Nov. 27 $69,000 put leading. At-the-money implied volatility was around 36% for Nov. 27 and 38% for Nov. 13 options, and 25-delta puts traded roughly 4 to 5 volatility points above calls.
Altcoins remained weak. Zcash (ZEC) fell roughly 13-14% over 24 hours as leveraged longs were liquidated and capital exited Grayscale's Zcash ETF. CoinMarketCap's Altcoin Season index stood at 40, well short of the 75 threshold associated with an altcoin season, and bitcoin's share of total crypto market capitalization rose to 60.5% from 59.9% the prior Friday. Among the most-traded perpetual futures, four of the top ten were TradFi-linked, including the Direxion 3x semiconductor ETF (SOXL) at $8.4 billion in 24-hour volume, per Coinalyze.
Spot bitcoin ETF flows remained negative. U.S. spot bitcoin ETFs lost $95 million on Tuesday, according to SoSoValue, extending outflows to a fourth consecutive day. BlackRock's IBIT accounted for $78 million of that total and recorded its eighth straight session of redemptions.
Derivatives data pointed to deleveraging. According to CoinGlass, crypto futures liquidations jumped 288% to $725 million in 24 hours, coinciding with the inflation release, while trading volume rose 24% to $204.8 billion and open interest slipped 1% to $127.2 billion. Bitcoin open interest fell 0.2% against a 0.6% price decline, with roughly 85% of the $200.5 million in bitcoin liquidations coming from longs. Funding remained mildly positive at 0.0078%, below the 0.01% baseline, and the taker buy/sell ratio of 0.97 indicated sellers in control. Ether liquidations of $253 million exceeded bitcoin's despite ether open interest being about half the size of bitcoin's, at $25.2 billion.
Options markets showed continued demand for downside protection. Put volume was 1.5 times call volume across Deribit expiries from Nov. 12 to Nov. 27, with the Nov. 27 $69,000 put leading. At-the-money implied volatility was around 36% for Nov. 27 and 38% for Nov. 13 options, and 25-delta puts traded roughly 4 to 5 volatility points above calls.
Altcoins remained weak. Zcash (ZEC) fell roughly 13-14% over 24 hours as leveraged longs were liquidated and capital exited Grayscale's Zcash ETF. CoinMarketCap's Altcoin Season index stood at 40, well short of the 75 threshold associated with an altcoin season, and bitcoin's share of total crypto market capitalization rose to 60.5% from 59.9% the prior Friday. Among the most-traded perpetual futures, four of the top ten were TradFi-linked, including the Direxion 3x semiconductor ETF (SOXL) at $8.4 billion in 24-hour volume, per Coinalyze.
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