Bitcoin climbed to a one-week high on Wednesday as a rebound in Asian technology stocks supported broader appetite for risk, while news that SpaceX and Tesla are exploring a merger added a company-specific catalyst for crypto markets.
Bitcoin traded around $83,500, up 0.6% from midnight UTC, according to CoinDesk. South Korea’s Kospi index rose 3.29%, while Nasdaq 100 futures gained 0.44%. The move followed strong results from SpaceX and Super Micro Computer on Tuesday in the United States, helping lift technology-related assets and other markets exposed to investor risk appetite.
Elon Musk, who leads SpaceX and Tesla, said the two companies had created special committees to examine a possible merger. If completed, the transaction would bring together more than 30,000 bitcoin held on the companies’ balance sheets, valued in the source material at about $2.5 billion. The discussions are exploratory; the companies’ formation of committees does not establish that a merger will take place.
Ether also advanced, gaining 0.6% to trade near $2,460. The CoinDesk 80 index rose 0.47%, while the narrower CoinDesk 5 index increased 0.64%. The CoinDesk Memecoin Index performed better, adding 1.2%, compared with a 0.84% rise for the CoinDesk 100.
Zcash extends rally ahead of November upgrade
Zcash continued to outperform much of the market after developers set a November activation date for NU7, an upgrade for the privacy-focused blockchain. The token rose about 11% over 24 hours in the report, including a 0.9% gain since midnight UTC to roughly $1,260. Zcash remained down about 12% over the month despite the latest advance.
NU7 is designed to reduce block times from 75 seconds to 25 seconds, allowing payments to confirm three times faster. The upgrade also directs 60% of transaction fees into a reserve that will be paid out over time. These changes have helped focus market attention on Zcash, although the trading data showed that the rally was accompanied by a sizeable increase in leverage.
Zcash open interest rose 24% against a 12% increase in its price, indicating that new derivatives positions were being added. Its annualized funding rate stood at 10%, while its 24-hour open-interest-adjusted cumulative volume delta was negative. That combination suggests sellers were hitting bids even as the token price moved higher.
Near was the strongest performer in the CoinDesk 100, gaining 6% to about $5.23. Its rise coincided with growth in NEAR Intents, a cross-chain swap product whose fees partly fund token buybacks, as well as a governance proposal to reduce annual issuance from 2.5% to 1.6% over two years.
Among other tokens, Ethena rose 4.8%, recovering from a monthly decline of about 22%. Aerodrome fell 4.4%, the biggest decline in the CoinDesk 100, while Morpho lost 2.7% as the decentralised-finance sector index rose only 0.22%. Injective slipped 2.1%, trimming a monthly gain of about 18% associated with pending US exchange-traded fund applications linked to the token.
Derivatives show heavier activity but limited conviction
Crypto futures activity increased across the market. Twenty-four-hour futures volume reached $190 billion, up 19%, while open interest rose nearly 4% to $145 billion. Liquidations increased 76% to $284 million. The taker long-to-short volume ratio was close to 53% to 47%, showing a modest tilt toward bullish trades.
The latest bitcoin and ether advances appeared to be driven more by spot-price movement than by a major influx of new futures exposure. Over 24 hours, bitcoin’s spot price rose 2.6% and ether’s gained 3.35%, compared with increases in futures open interest of about 3% and 2%, respectively. Overall open interest remained well below lifetime highs.
Leverage was particularly notable in privacy-focused coins. Monero open interest rose 8% to more than $300 million, close to record levels, while its spot price increased 2% and funding stood at 4%. Unlike Zcash, Monero’s cumulative volume delta was positive.
Bitcoin and ether volatility expectations eased. Bitcoin’s 30-day implied-volatility index, BVIV, fell below 40%, reversing a brief rise above 42% on October 15. Ether’s equivalent measure showed a similar pattern, pointing to expectations of steadier trading conditions.
Options positioning was less straightforward. Bitcoin’s one-month put-call skew stood at 8%, indicating a relative preference for puts, with similar biases over one week and three months. However, the five most-traded bets were calls with strike prices above the current spot price. Much of that activity involved synthetic, multi-leg strategies rather than outright bullish call purchases. Ether options also leaned toward puts, though less strongly than bitcoin options.
Moneyiar market picture
Moneyiar data recorded at 11:59 a.m. on October 21, 2026, showed bitcoin at $83,425.51, up 2.51% over 24 hours and 0.05% over seven days. Zcash was priced at $1,285.65, up 13.22% in 24 hours and 3.61% over seven days.
Plasma traded at $0.08051, gaining 6.93% over 24 hours but falling 1.41% over seven days. Four stood at $0.24913, up 2.44% over 24 hours and down 5.81% over the week. These figures are Moneyiar market data at the stated time and may differ from prices reported earlier in the trading session.
