BTC Price Gains Lack Derivative Support as YZY Token Causes Losses
Bitcoin's price is recovering, trading above $113,000, but on-chain data indicates potential seller pressure near $113,600. The altcoin market has seen gains, with the CoinDesk 80 Index rising by 4% and the CoinDesk 20 Index up nearly 1% in 24 hours.
Derivatives Positioning
- BTC's recent price increase is accompanied by a drop in open interest (OI) in USDT- and dollar-denominated perpetual futures across major exchanges and low spot market volumes.
- This discrepancy raises concerns about the sustainability of BTC’s gains.
- SOL, DOGE, and ADA have seen increases in futures OI, while other major cryptocurrencies experienced capital outflows.
- On the CME, BTC futures OI remains below December highs; however, options OI has risen to 42.89K BTC, the highest since May 29.
- ETH futures OI on CME hit a record 2.2 million ETH, indicating strong institutional participation.
- On Deribit, BTC put options are trading at higher premiums than calls, signaling a bearish sentiment shift.
- ETH's call bias has weakened since earlier this week.
- OTC block flows included butterfly option strategies for BTC and a purchase of an ether call option at the $5,000 strike expiring Aug. 30.
Token Talk
- The Solana-based memecoin YZY, linked to Kanye West, has left over 70,000 wallets with losses, according to Bubblemaps.
- Despite being part of a proposed “YZY Money” ecosystem, its flawed supply distribution and liquidity design harmed retail investors.
- Over 51,800 addresses lost between $1 and $1,000; three traders lost over $1 million each.
- Only 11 wallets gained $1 million or more, while overall losses totaled $8.2 million.
- Structural issues included 70% of supply reserved for Yeezy Investments LLC, leading to liquidity vulnerabilities.
- This situation reflects trends in celebrity-based memecoins, often designed to benefit insiders while disadvantaging retail buyers.