Good Morning, Asia. Here’s what’s making news in the markets:
Welcome to Asia Morning Briefing, a daily summary of top stories during U.S. hours and an overview of market moves and analysis. For a detailed overview of U.S. markets, see CoinDesk’s Crypto Daybook Americas.
Bitcoin is trading above $110,000, and Ether is currently valued at $3,880 as Hong Kong begins its business week.
However, it’s worth noting that both major digital assets have experienced significant declines over the past 30 days—BTC is down by 10% and ETH has seen a drop of 14%. Traders are currently in a phase of position consolidation as the markets settle.
As observed by market maker FlowDesk, many clients have largely paused in adding new risk following last week’s Federal Reserve meeting, leading to flows characterized predominantly by short-term trading strategies and portfolio rebalancing.
Interestingly, despite the overall cautious atmosphere, traders have shown net buying activity in BTC, HYPE, and SYRUP tokens, which are backed by cashflow or buyback narratives. In contrast, assets connected to Solana are lagging, even as Bitcoin’s dominance rises to approximately 60%. FlowDesk suggests that many traders may currently be underexposed if the market rebounded, hinting at cleaner positions following an earlier period of deleveraging.
In the derivatives market, caution reigns supreme. Over the last 24 hours, approximately $155 million in crypto derivatives have been liquidated, according to data from CoinGlass. This breakdown includes $97 million in long positions and $58 million in shorts. While the figures point to a moderate flush of overleveraged longs, they do not indicate a broad panic selling, especially as funding rates and borrowing costs begin to normalize.
FlowDesk reports ongoing elevated put skew and a hesitant outlook, despite a calming in volatility. The dynamics surrounding BTC and ETH options reflect a predominance of call selling and put buying, indicating a cautious sentiment among traders.
As for credit markets, demand for altcoins remains robust as traders look to take advantage of negative funding and hedge locked tokens. Notably, benchmark lending rates for DeFi protocols on Ethereum have eased from 5.6% to 5.3%, making conditions more favorable.
Overall, crypto markets are entering the week in a state of “wait-and-see,” as traders look for a catalyst to unlock new momentum.
Market Movement
BTC: Bitcoin has demonstrated a degree of stability around $110,300 on Monday, suggesting a possible moderation after a week characterized by profit-taking and mild deleveraging within the derivatives markets.
ETH: Ether has been trading near $3,900, showing slight upward momentum as traders cautiously increase exposure in light of last week’s market-wide pullback.
Gold: Gold prices settled at about $4,003 per ounce, reflecting a 0.5% decrease on Friday after rebounding from a two-week low earlier in the week. Despite hawkish comments from the Federal Reserve and a firmer dollar that diminishes the odds of December rate cuts, the precious metal notably gained 3.7% in October, marking its third consecutive monthly increase. This gain is attributed to ongoing geopolitical tensions and U.S. fiscal uncertainties, which have kept demand for safe-haven assets resilient.
Nikkei 225: Japan’s primary stock index has maintained a position above 52,000 as investors express optimism regarding U.S.-China trade relations and favorable earnings reports from major technology companies.
