The crypto market slid early Thursday as ether, the second-largest token, dropped more than 3% to below $4,000. The decline triggered large liquidations, including a multimillion dollar loss for one whale.

Bitcoin (BTC) also fell 1.5% to $115,600, nearly erasing gains from Wednesday’s rebound. Other major cryptocurrencies followed suit amid declines in Nasdaq and S&P 500 futures, likely caused by rising odds of a U.S. government shutdown.

Coins like recent outperformers ASTR, AVAX and PUMP suffered double digit losses over 24 hours.

One analyst pointed to cryptocurrencies as an early warning indicator for broader financial markets.

"Crypto is once again signaling shifts in risk appetite," said Alex Kuptsikevich, chief market analyst at FXPro. "Altcoins and smaller developed market currencies have been weakening since the Federal Reserve’s rate cut last week, and major U.S. indices began following this trend from Tuesday onward."

Token Talk

by Francisco Rodrigues

• The price of Hyperliquid’s HYPE token is significantly underperforming the wider crypto market, mainly due to growing competition from BNB Chain-based derivatives exchange Aster and forthcoming token unlocks.
• Aster, which is backed by YZi Labs, overtook Hyperliquid in daily perpetual trading volume this week in an upset that sent shockwaves through crypto’s on-chain trading ecosystem.
• In just one week, Aster’s open interest ballooned 33,500%, leaping from $3.7 million to $1.25 billion. Its 24-hour trading volume hit $35.8 billion, more than double that of Hyperliquid, which logged $10 billion according to DeFiLlama data. Total value locked (TVL) on Aster also jumped, almost tripling to $1.85 billion.
• The platform’s token, ASTER, has added more than 344% in the past week to $2, giving it a fully diluted valuation of $15.9 billion. HYPE slid to $43 from $58.4.
• HYPE's drop coincides investor anxiety over upcoming token unlocks. In late November, 237 million HYPE, worth more than $10 billion at current prices, will gradually become liquid over a two-year period.

Derivatives Positioning

• Open interest (OI) in futures tied to many major tokens has declined in the past 24 hours, with AVAX witnessing the sharpest drop, nearly 12%.
• Still, overall positioning in BTC futures remains elevated, with OI hovering close to record highs. ETH's futures OI has increased to 14.45 million ETH, despite large liquidations on the decentralized exchange Hyperliquid.
• OI in USDT- and dollar-denominated SOL perpetuals on major exchanges has increased slightly from 29 million SOL to 30.28 million SOL since Asian hours, as the spot price drops toward $200. Some traders seem to be shorting the decline.
• XRP, SOL, HBAR, TRX, SUI and XLM stand out as coins with negative funding rates, pointing to a bias for bearish short positions.
• On the CME, the downtrend in BTC futures OI has resumed while OI in ether futures has risen back to record highs above 2.2 million ETH. The annualized three-month basis in ETH has dropped to 7% from 9.8% in a sign of weakening of bullish pressures.
• On Deribit, BTC and ETH put options continue to draw premium relative to calls, painting a bearish picture. Some traders picked up out-of-the-money lower strike ether puts via OTC desk Paradigm.

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