BTC Soars Back to $110K as Mild CPI Enhances Market Confidence, While Altcoins Struggle

The crypto market was buoyed by a softer than expected CPI print, with bitcoin BTC$111,150.24 rising back above $110,000 as ether ETH$3,932.98 moves back towards $4,000.

Positive investor sentiment appears to be strongly aligned with bitcoin, with CoinMarketCap’s “altcoin season” indicator hitting its lowest level in more than 90 days, as bitcoin dominance continues to rise.

Derivatives Positioning

By Jacob Joseph

• Bitcoin’s 30-day implied volatility, as measured by Volmex’s BVIV index, has eased to 45% from 52% over two days, partially retracing the spike experienced on October 10. This decline signals a soothing of market anxiety alongside a similar reset on Wall Street.
• Options data from Deribit show that BTC’s seven-day volatility risk premium (VRP) has flipped negative, a sign of renewed calm.
• Dealer gamma profile points to positive gamma buildup from $112K to $120K strikes, meaning dealers trade against the market in this range, arresting price volatility.
• Broadly speaking, BTC puts continue to trade at a premium to calls across all tenors, reflecting persistent downside fears and call overwriting, especially at the long-end of the curve.
• ETH options exhibit bullishness beyond the December expiry.
• Open interest (OI) in perpetual futures tied to most major tokens has increased in the past 24 hours, with PUMP futures leading the pack and showing an OI gain of over 14%. Strong capital inflows in non-serious tokens often precedes market corrections.
• Funding rates for TRX and ZEC have turned slightly negative, indicating a bias for bearish short positions. In ZEC’s case, traders with long exposure in the spot market could be hedging the same with short futures bets.

Token Talk

By Oliver Knight

• CoinMarketCap’s “altcoin season” index has slumped below 25/100 for the first time in the past 90 days, indicating a shift into “bitcoin season.”
• The fall reflects worsening sentiment across the altcoin market, with assets like FET, 2Z, BONK, and WIF all losing more than 50% of their value over the past three months.
• Bitcoin dominance has increased from 57% to 59% since September 13, a sign that investors are avoiding speculative altcoin bets in favor of bitcoin, which has remained between $100,000 and $126,000 since July.
• Altcoins faced a liquidation cascade earlier this month as a sell-off resulted in exaggerated drawdowns, wiping out order book liquidity in the process.
• While some have recovered from the sell-off, many remain at critical levels of support that suggest a bearish market structure.
• This is despite a wave of digital asset treasury companies (DATs) investing in altcoins throughout 2025, with a lack of retail demand failing to sustain consistent momentum.