Altcoins Rally on Thin Trading as Bitcoin Holds Below $83,500

Smaller coins lead Monday's rally as bitcoin sits near $83,500

Smaller cryptocurrencies pulled ahead of the market leaders on Monday, with the CoinDesk 80 index — which tracks mid- and small-cap tokens — up about 3% over 24 hours. The CoinDesk 5, which tracks the largest coins by market value, gained just 1.2% in the same period.

Bitcoin was trading below $83,500 after hitting a high above $84,000 on Sunday. Ether added roughly 2.5%, trading around $2,560.

Post-crash liquidity still uneven

According to CoinDesk research, one year after the Oct. 10, 2025 flash crash, order-book depth for bitcoin and ether has recovered to pre-crash levels in dollar terms. However, altcoin liquidity has continued to erode.

Joshua de Vos, research lead at CoinDesk, said in a report published Saturday: "Market makers have returned to majors." Order-book depth refers to how much buy and sell interest is available at various price levels. When it is thin, smaller amounts of buying or selling can move prices more sharply.

ETF outflows keep institutional money flowing out

SoSoValue data shows U.S.-listed spot bitcoin ETFs — funds that hold bitcoin directly — recorded $681 million in net outflows last week, the most since June. Most of the selling happened on Wednesday and Thursday of that week.

Spot ether ETFs have endured a nine-day streak of outflows, the longest since June.

Futures activity surges without new leverage

Futures trading volume surged to $126 billion over 24 hours, up 81%, but open interest — the total dollar value of all outstanding futures contracts — rose only 2.44% to $145.8 billion. This suggests traders are churning through positions without adding significant new exposure.

Longs made up 52% of 24-hour taker volume, up from 48% the week before. Taker volume measures trades where the buyer or seller pays to fill their order immediately, indicating which side is more eager.

Zcash and NEAR draw futures attention

Zcash (ZEC) ranked as the fourth-largest cryptocurrency by futures volume at $5.46 billion over 24 hours, behind bitcoin, ether, and Solana. Its price rose 6% with annualized funding rates at 10%, meaning longs pay shorts a premium to hold positions.

NEAR saw a 10% price gain with 17% more open interest, suggesting fresh positioning behind the move.

What to watch next

Market attention turns to Wednesday's U.S. consumer price index (CPI) report, a key measure of inflation. Oil prices also eased, with WTI crude futures falling about 2% to $90 per barrel after President Trump said Russia would supply 300,000 metric tons of diesel to global markets, a partial easing of sanctions.

Sources

• CoinDesk