Bitcoin briefly fell below $81,000 before recovering to above $83,000, while ether also moved lower as a sharp sell-off in South Korean equities heightened concern about artificial-intelligence investment and competition in the semiconductor industry. Investors were also preparing for major U.S. bank earnings and Wednesday’s inflation report.
Crypto tracks a broader risk-off move
South Korea’s benchmark equity index dropped 5.5% on Tuesday and stood about 38% below its June record high. Samsung Electronics fell 7%, while SK Hynix lost 10%, making the two chipmakers the main drivers of the decline.
The weakness reflected growing doubts about the sustainability of the AI investment boom. Broadcom’s chief executive described current AI spending as “casino-like,” while reported progress in memory-chip technology by China’s CXMT raised concerns that established manufacturers could face stronger competition.
Digital assets were volatile during the session. Bitcoin fell below $81,000, then rebounded above $84,000 before settling just over $83,000. Ether dropped as low as $2,400. According to CoinDesk, investors were adjusting positions ahead of two potential sources of market volatility: earnings reports from major U.S. banks and Wednesday’s consumer-price data.
The U.S. headline inflation rate is forecast at 3.6% year over year, compared with 3.4% the previous month. Core inflation, which excludes food and energy prices, is expected at 2.5%. JPMorgan Chase, Goldman Sachs and Citigroup are scheduled to report third-quarter results later Tuesday, offering investors new information about consumer demand, credit conditions and corporate activity.
Futures show leverage being reduced
Crypto derivatives activity pointed to forced position closures rather than a fresh buildup of leverage. Twenty-four-hour futures volume rose 66% to $212 billion from $126 billion, while open interest—the dollar value of outstanding contracts—fell 1.58% to $143.4 billion. Liquidations climbed 284% to $813 million.
Long and short taker activity was nearly balanced but still favored sellers, at 48% long and 52% short. The previous day, longs represented 52% of this aggressive trading flow. The shift suggests buyers were no longer controlling immediate market orders.
Open interest in bitcoin and ether futures fell by at least 2% even as prices were broadly flat to negative over 24 hours. Similar reductions were seen in XRP, SOL and HYPE. Because open interest is measured in dollars, falling prices account for part of the decline, but the data still indicated that positions were being unwound.
Some individual contracts showed more direct bearish positioning. SNDK open interest rose by almost 9% while its price fell 7%; after adjusting for the effect of the lower price, the number of open contracts increased by roughly 17%. SK Hynix-linked futures showed a similar pattern, with open interest up 18% as the price fell 8%, implying an approximately 28% increase in contracts after the price effect.
Options markets remained comparatively calm. Bitcoin and ether implied-volatility indexes stayed near their year-to-date lows, indicating that options traders were not pricing a major immediate increase in expected price swings. However, bitcoin put options—contracts that gain value when the asset falls—were again the most heavily traded instruments, suggesting continued demand for downside protection. Ether trading was mixed, although the $2,500 put expiring October 16 was the leading contract.
Token losses widen across the market
Several cryptocurrencies recorded sharper losses than bitcoin and ether. Starknet’s STRK fell more than 17% to about $0.08, reversing part of a recent rally that had nearly doubled its value. The move followed market attention around the network’s consideration of leaving Ethereum to become a standalone, quantum-resistant layer-1.
LayerZero’s ZRO declined 14%, while NEAR fell 11%. Blur dropped 33% after the NFT marketplace said it planned to close its website interface and stop matching new Blend loans on November 12. The underlying marketplace contracts are expected to remain operational, and the BLUR token will continue to provide governance over the protocol’s fee switch.
Autheo’s THEO plunged 92% after a suspected exploit on Base. PeckShield said an attacker minted 19 million tokens without authorization, exchanged them for 700 ETH—valued at about $1.76 million—and moved the proceeds to Ethereum. Stacks’ STX was an exception, rising 11.4% as the network expanded its bitcoin-staking program.
Moneyiar market picture
Moneyiar market data at 20:29 Tehran time on October 13 showed bitcoin at $83,125.53, up 0.17% over 24 hours but down 2.90% over seven days. Ethereum was at $2,504.42, down 0.70% in 24 hours and 7.05% over the week.
Among the additional assets tracked by Moneyiar, Comedian was priced at $0.05858, down 2.28% over 24 hours and 10.83% over seven days. Data Network stood at $0.20465, down 3.40% over 24 hours and 0.64% over seven days. Prices and percentage changes reflect Moneyiar data at the stated time.
