Key Takeaways
- • Only five of the top 100 cryptocurrencies by market value (ARB, RNDR, PEPE, QNT and GT) gained at least 1% over 24 hours as bitcoin, ether, XRP and solana declined, according to CoinDesk's Nov. 9, 2026 market report.
- • Crypto futures trading volume rose more than 200% to $180 billion in 24 hours, while open interest fell 3% to about $127 billion and liquidations reached $1.1 billion as traders closed positions.
- • Bitcoin one-week implied volatility jumped to about 43% from about 33% on Thursday, and ether's rose to about 60% from about 46%, with put-over-call skew widening to about 13% for bitcoin and 15% for ether.
- • Ether fell 5.9% to $2,100 after closing Sunday below its 200-day moving average for the first time since Aug. 18, with about $501 million of the $1.16 billion in crypto liquidations.
- • The crypto drawdown followed a roughly 4% pre-market decline in Nvidia (NVDA) after CEO Jensen Huang reportedly acknowledged an affair with a suspected Chinese spy, prompting the company to open an investigation.
Summary
Crypto markets declined on Monday, Nov. 9, 2026, with only five of the 100 largest cryptocurrencies by market value gaining at least 1% over the prior 24 hours, according to CoinDesk. Bitcoin, ether, XRP and solana were all in negative territory, with bitcoin priced at about $74,594 and ether at about $2,120 at the time of the report.
CoinDesk attributed the risk-off tone to a broader tech selloff. Nvidia (NVDA), the largest stock by market value and a bellwether for AI, was down more than 4% in pre-market trading. The decline followed reports that on Sunday CEO Jensen Huang had acknowledged an affair with a suspected Chinese spy, and that the company had opened an investigation into the matter.
Derivatives data showed a sharp shift in positioning. Crypto futures volume surged more than 200% to $180 billion, but open interest fell 3% to about $127 billion, indicating traders closed positions and capital left the market. Liquidations reached $1.1 billion, and the taker buy-sell ratio leaned toward selling at 51.5%. Trading volume in Binance-listed NVDA perpetual contracts rose more than 200% to over $500 million.
Bitcoin funding remained positive but lower than Thursday, meaning longs still paid shorts, though less than before. Bitcoin open interest fell 0.2% against a 2.2% price drop, with $305 million in liquidations. Ether funding flipped to negative from positive, meaning shorts were paying longs, after open interest fell 6.7% against a 5.9% price decline; ether liquidations were $498 million. Among altcoins, open interest in privacy coin ZEC fell 9.7% against a 4.5% price drop, and XRP open interest fell 9.2% against a 6.5% decline, which CoinDesk characterized as capital outflows.
Options markets signaled renewed demand for downside protection. Bitcoin's one-week implied volatility rose to about 43% from about 33%, and ether's to about 60% from about 46%. Four of bitcoin's six most active options contracts were puts at strikes between $70,000 and $72,000, while ether's most active contract was a December put at $1,900.
By sector, payments-focused tokens bore the brunt of the decline, losing more than 5%, compared with 3.5% for decentralized finance tokens, 2.35% for memecoins and 0.12% for layer-two tokens. XRP lost 7.3% over the period. Arbitrum (ARB) was an exception, rising more than 5% on continued onchain activity tied to real-world assets.
CoinDesk attributed the risk-off tone to a broader tech selloff. Nvidia (NVDA), the largest stock by market value and a bellwether for AI, was down more than 4% in pre-market trading. The decline followed reports that on Sunday CEO Jensen Huang had acknowledged an affair with a suspected Chinese spy, and that the company had opened an investigation into the matter.
Derivatives data showed a sharp shift in positioning. Crypto futures volume surged more than 200% to $180 billion, but open interest fell 3% to about $127 billion, indicating traders closed positions and capital left the market. Liquidations reached $1.1 billion, and the taker buy-sell ratio leaned toward selling at 51.5%. Trading volume in Binance-listed NVDA perpetual contracts rose more than 200% to over $500 million.
Bitcoin funding remained positive but lower than Thursday, meaning longs still paid shorts, though less than before. Bitcoin open interest fell 0.2% against a 2.2% price drop, with $305 million in liquidations. Ether funding flipped to negative from positive, meaning shorts were paying longs, after open interest fell 6.7% against a 5.9% price decline; ether liquidations were $498 million. Among altcoins, open interest in privacy coin ZEC fell 9.7% against a 4.5% price drop, and XRP open interest fell 9.2% against a 6.5% decline, which CoinDesk characterized as capital outflows.
Options markets signaled renewed demand for downside protection. Bitcoin's one-week implied volatility rose to about 43% from about 33%, and ether's to about 60% from about 46%. Four of bitcoin's six most active options contracts were puts at strikes between $70,000 and $72,000, while ether's most active contract was a December put at $1,900.
By sector, payments-focused tokens bore the brunt of the decline, losing more than 5%, compared with 3.5% for decentralized finance tokens, 2.35% for memecoins and 0.12% for layer-two tokens. XRP lost 7.3% over the period. Arbitrum (ARB) was an exception, rising more than 5% on continued onchain activity tied to real-world assets.
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