The crypto market suffered a sharp selloff on June 4, with Bitcoin (BTC) falling to $61,300 around 02:00 UTC, hitting the 200-week moving average (200WMA). It later recovered to $64,680 but remains weak near $62,500 as of writing. Ethereum (ETH) dropped roughly 3% from midnight to $1,750. The sudden plunge triggered $1.7 billion in futures liquidations (BTC $750M, ETH $390M), with cumulative liquidations over two days reaching $3 billion — the heaviest in months. Analysts cite capital rotation from crypto to AI-driven traditional markets and geopolitical uncertainty as contributing factors.
Derivatives Flash Strong Bearish Signal
Although Bitcoin holds above $60K, derivatives data sends alarming warnings. Total futures volume edged up to $305 billion in 24 hours, but open interest plunged 8.5% to $111.4 billion. Bitcoin's open interest fell from over 800,000 BTC to 766,000 BTC, indicating long positions were washed out while shorts are not yet aggressively building. Options put skew has steepened sharply, with traders paying higher premiums for downside protection. On Deribit, open interest for the $60,000 put option reached $1 billion notional; the most actively traded over 24 hours was the $55,000 put. The BVIV and EVIV implied volatility indexes rose significantly over three days, confirming bearish dominance.
SOL Open Interest Hits Record High as Shorts Pile In
Altcoins underperformed majors, with NEAR, ZEC, JUP, and recently-peaked HYPE falling 12-13%. Liquidity-driven liquidation cascades amplified losses. Notably, Solana (SOL) showed a peculiar derivative pattern: price declined while open interest surged to an all-time high of 72.16 million SOL. This divergence typically signals aggressive short selling — similar setups appeared in TRX and ADA. Meanwhile, the proportion of Bitcoin supply in loss has exceeded those in profit, historically a bear market bottom characteristic. However, altcoins' fate now hinges on Bitcoin holding the $60K line; a breakdown could trigger a deeper liquidation spiral.