Bitcoin is trading near $77,300, up on the day but still lower over the past 24 hours. The bounce comes as leveraged Zcash positions unwind sharply and a golden cross that formed earlier this week fails to spark the rally the signal often promises.
Bitcoin 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.
Zcash leads the leverage unwind
Zcash led the retreat in leveraged positions across crypto derivatives markets, posting by far the sharpest pullback in open interest. Open interest in the token fell 20.1% to $1.4 billion as its price dropped 9% to $1,112.10, with $17.2 million liquidated over the past day. Funding on Zcash turned negative at -0.0016%, the only major token with a negative rate.
Across the wider market, aggregate open interest in crypto futures fell to $59.5 billion from $62.4 billion on Wednesday, while 24-hour liquidations climbed to $256.3 million, up from $142.3 million midweek. Bitcoin's own open interest stayed broadly unchanged at $25 billion, accounting for 42.1% of the market total.
Golden cross fails to deliver again
Earlier this week, bitcoin formed a golden cross, a technical signal that occurs when the 50-day moving average rises above the 200-day moving average and is conventionally viewed as a precursor to a bullish rally. History suggests otherwise, though: bitcoin has tended to generate much of its return before the crossover forms, then pull back shortly after the signal appears.
This week's move fits that pattern. Bitcoin climbed from $62,000 to $82,000 ahead of the golden cross, then fell from around $80,000 to $77,000 afterward. Golden crosses in 2021, 2023 and 2024 also arrived after sizable rallies and were followed by short-term pullbacks.
Traders await inflation data before the Fed meets
Traditional markets were firmer alongside bitcoin's bounce, with S&P 500 futures up 0.48% and gold up 0.74%. Investors are awaiting August consumer price data due at 8:30 a.m. ET, the last major release before the Federal Reserve's Sept. 15-16 meeting on interest rates.
The aggregated long/short ratio for crypto futures stood at 1.114, with longs at 52.67% against shorts at 47.29%, close to balanced.
Sources: CoinDesk: Bitcoin, Ethereum, Crypto News and Price Data, CoinDesk: Bitcoin, Ethereum, Crypto News and Price Data
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