Bitcoin recovers toward $77,300 as zcash leverage unwinds

Bitcoin BTC$77,031.75 is trading near $77,300, up 0.7% since midnight UTC but still down 0.87% over 24 hours, according to CoinDesk Indices data. The token sits 6% below the $82,284 high it reached last week.

Ether ETH$2,463.24 rose 1.6% on Friday, and is also higher over 24 hours, one of the few large-cap cryptocurrencies to recover its overnight losses. Solana (SOL) has added just under 1% since midnight.

In the CoinDesk 100, 68 constituents are higher on the day, something of a reversal after Thursday's 86-14 split the other way. The index has added 0.5%, though it remains 1.6% lower over 24 hours and 80 constituents are still down on that higher timeframe.

The memecoin index was the biggest gainer, adding 0.73% since midnight UTC. As with yesterday, the speculative end is moving furthest, though in the opposite direction.

Traditional markets are firmer across the board. S&P 500 index futures have gained 0.48%, Nasdaq futures 0.56%, gold 0.74% and silver 0.92%, while the Dollar Index is unchanged. August consumer price data for the U.S. is due at 8:30 a.m. ET, the last major release before the FOMC meets to set interest rates on Sept. 15-16.

Derivatives positioning

• Aggregate open interest across crypto futures has fallen to $59.5 billion from $62.4 billion on Wednesday, on $94.2 billion of 24-hour volume, according to Coinalyze. Liquidations reached $256.3 million over the past day, up from $142.3 million midweek.
• Bitcoin open interest is broadly unchanged at $25 billion, up 0.12% over 24 hours and accounting for 42.1% of the market total. Coinalyze's aggregated series shows bitcoin open interest peaking near $26.8 billion on Sept. 4 and grinding lower since, so positioning has been coming off for a week rather than in a single flush.
• Zcash saw by far the sharpest unwind. Open interest dropped 20.1% to $1.4 billion as the price fell 9% to $1,112.10, with $17.2 million liquidated. Funding turned negative at -0.0016%, the only major token with a negative rate.
• Bitcoin accounted for $60.3 million of liquidations and ether $46.5 million, together more than 40% of the total.
• Funding remains positive but subdued, with bitcoin's aggregated rate at 0.0036% and the predicted rate at 0.0026%. The aggregated long/short accounts ratio stands at 1.114, with longs at 52.67% against shorts at 47.29%, close to balanced.
• Hyperliquid (HYPE) and XRP both saw open interest fall around 5% over 24 hours, at $2.5 billion and $1.2 billion, respectively.

Token talk

• Leading the CoinDesk 100 is theta network THETA$0.1828, up 11% since midnight UTC at $0.19 and 6.9% higher over 24 hours.
• Solana-based DEX token raydium RAY$1.6419 gained 10% on the day to $1.60 and 18% over 24 hours, a third consecutive session at the top of the index after rises of 5.8% and 8.5% earlier in the week.
• Perpetuals exchange token lighter (LIT) rose 5.8% to $4.54, recovering part of a 15% fall over the previous 24 hours.
• Zcash (ZEC) added 3.4% since midnight to $1,116.06, but remains 8.8% lower over 24 hours, the steepest 24-hour drop among tokens with a market cap above $10 billion.
• Morpho MORPHO$2.3486 climbed 3.6% to $2.34 and is 2.3% higher over 24 hours, one of the few mid-caps positive on both timeframes.
• CoinMarketCap’s “Altcoin Season” indicator is at 38/100, in neutral territory after spiking on 51/100 on Tuesday.