CoinDesk 20 Index: 2,645.58. +3.37%
Bitcoin (BTC): $87,452.37 +6.46%
Ether (ETH): $3,289.79 +2.79%
S&P 500: 6,001.35 +0.1%
Gold: $2,603.09 -0.31%
Nikkei 225: 39,376.09 -0.40%

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Bitcoin came within touching distance of $90,000 in volatile trading during the European morning, swinging between highs well above $89,000 before falling below $86,000 as it encountered resistance on its path to another milestone. It was recently trading around $87,400. The surge in the last 24 hours has seen nearly $900 million of liquidations in crypto-tracked futures, equally distributed between bullish and bearish bets at almost $450 million apiece, according to Coinglass data. Notwithstanding the price swings, bitcoin is around 6% higher over 24 hours, outperforming the wider crypto market, which has risen just under 3.5%, as measured by the CoinDesk 20 Index.

Ether ETFs registered record inflows of $295.5 million on Monday, with BlackRock's ETHA and Fidelity's FETH both gathering a net $100 million. Their bitcoin equivalents saw their second-highest-ever daily inflows, recording gains of $1.1 billion as BTC's market cap climbed to $1.78 trillion to overtake silver as the world's eighth-largest asset. "Assets in the US spot bitcoin ETFs are now up to $84b, which is 2/3 of the way to what gold ETFs have, all the sudden there's a decent shot they surpass gold before their first birthday (we predicted it would take 3-4yrs)," Eric Balchunas, a senior analyst at Bloomberg, said on X.

DOGE climbed to over $0.43 during the European morning, enjoying gains of around 50% in the last 24 hours. That's the memecoin's highest price since May 2021, when it hit an all-time high of $0.71. DOGE-tracked futures saw over $68 million in cumulative losses. Those liquidations were the largest for dogecoin this year, with open interest nearing a lifetime record from April. Much of the current rally has been fueled by bullish sentiment around the meme’s endorsement by technology entrepreneur Elon Musk in the Trump administration. DOGE subsequently retreated to below $0.40 as the crypto market fell, but remains over 30% higher in the last 24 hours.

The crypto market's "euphoric" state following its post-election rally spells warnings of a correction ahead, crypto trading firm QCP Capital said.

"With BTC's break of key resistance and its multi-month range, the market is certainly in a state of euphoria. Perp funding is very elevated and basis yields are at seven-month highs," the Singapore-based firm said in a Telegram broadcast. "While we remain structurally bullish, we are cautious of any pullbacks, especially from leveraged washouts."

The open interest-weighted funding rates in perpetuals, or futures with no expiry, have surged to 0.056%. That's a sign bullish long positions are likely getting crowded, and a slight price pullback could see over-leveraged bulls capitulate, closing their longs and inadvertently exacerbating downside pressures in the market.

Leverage washouts have been a common phenomenon in previous bull markets, often leading to sudden, double-digit percentage price drops.

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- Omkar Godbole