Bitcoin steadies above $79,000 as ETF inflows hit longest streak since April

Bitcoin $BTC$79,818.29 climbed over $80,000, adding more than 1% since midnight UTC as traders continued to digest last week's explosive advance. The relative calm masks an underlying bid, with spot bitcoin ETFs now posting eight consecutive days of net inflows, pulling in a combined $2.8 billion in the longest streak since April, according to SoSoValue data.

The catalyst that sparked the rally was the U.S. Treasury’s decision to double long-dated bond buybacks, spurring the largest cryptocurrency to break out of a six-week trading range and triggering more than $3 billion in short liquidations. The announcement continues to lift sentiment across risk assets like $BTC and gold.

Altcoins are mixed. Bittensor's $TAO led gains during the European morning, adding around 5.3% since midnight, recovering sharply from August lows near $185. Most other tokens were slightly lower, with zcash and pump.fun among the weakest, both dropping around 4%.

Derivatives positioning

• Crypto futures activity picks up pace: The crypto futures market picked up in the past 24 hours, with volume increasing 6% alongside a 3% gain in open interest (OI) and a long-short taker volume ratio of 51.3%, indicating takers (those trading at available order book prices) are absorbing liquidity.
• $BTC price versus futures participation: Bitcoin’s price rose above $80,000, yet futures participation didn't follow suit, leaving open interest flat near 700K $BTC. Lower derivatives activity means less potential for sudden liquidations and wild price swings, supporting a steadier spot-driven ascent.
• Ether futures positioning: Open interest in ether futures ticked up to 13.53 million tokens from 13.10 million 24 hours ago, but this marks only a one-week high. Overall positioning remains light and well below the May peak of 15.68 million.
• $SOL stands out among majors: $SOL open interest is rising by 5% to 67.96 million $SOL, the most since July 9, validating the spot price breakout above $100. Capital deployment in $SOL futures shows bulls executing longs at market prices rather than passive limit orders, evidenced by a positive 24-hour cumulative volume delta, most positive among major tokens.
• Other OI gainers and losers: XRP, GRAM, CRO, and SHIB are OI gainers over the past 24 hours while $ZEC is the OI loser.
• Broader sentiment: Most top tokens show positive OI-adjusted cumulative volume delta, signaling bulls are more aggressive across the wider market. While annualized perpetual funding rates for the major cryptocurrencies remain positive, they remain no higher than 10%, indicating bull positioning without overheating signals.
• $BTC volatility index rises with the spot price: $BTC's 30-day implied volatility index (BVIV) jumped to 46% from 42% alongside the spot price increase, indicating increased demand for options or derivatives used to hedge against price swings.
• Institutional options hedging: Institutions have bought downside protection through puts in longer-dated expiries even as front-end traders chase upside, according to crypto options exchange Deribit.
• Call dominance: The 24-hour volume rankings show a bias for $BTC calls at strike prices ranging from $70,000 to $85,000, with higher strikes commanding more business than those below the current spot price.
• Ether options pattern: A similar pattern is seen in ether, with calls dominating the rankings except for the top spot, taken by the $2,150 put expiring Sept. 25.

Token talk

• Bittensor ($TAO) jumped 5.3% since midnight to around $247, extending a recovery from August lows near $185. The move puts $TAO up roughly 18% over the past seven days, according to CoinDesk data.
• Morpho MORPHO$2.6215 added 2.7% to around $2.60, building on a strong week that has seen the DeFi lending token gain roughly 19%. Volume also ticked higher as risk appetite in the DeFi sector remained firm.
• Ethena (ENA) extended its rich vein of form, rising 2.5% since to around $0.151, adding to last week's 61% surge. The token remains one of the bigger beneficiaries of the broader altcoin bid, though it is still well below the highs it traded at before a multimonth decline of more than 90%.
• Zcash ($ZEC) slipped 4.1% since midnight to around $783, giving back some of last week's gains. It had surged roughly 41% over the past seven days, making it one of the standout performers of the squeeze week.
• CoinMarketCap’s “Altcoin Season” indicator is at 38/100, down from last week’s high of 51/100 as investors focused on bitcoin following its recent breakout to monthly highs.