Updated Oct 13, 2026, 7:11 a.m. EDT Published Oct 13, 2026, 7:06 a.m. EDT
4 min read
Summary
- Bitcoin dropped beneath $81,000 before bouncing back past $83,000.
- South Korea’s main stock index tumbled 5.5%, driven down by Samsung Electronics and SK Hynix, as anxiety over artificial intelligence spending and Chinese semiconductor rivalry rattled Asian financial exchanges.
- Market participants are positioning themselves ahead of Wednesday’s United States inflation figures and upcoming major banking earnings, while several digital assets registered double-digit losses and Autheo plummeted 92% following an apparent security breach.
South Korea’s primary equity index dropped 5.5% on Tuesday, bringing the benchmark roughly 38% below its all-time high from June. Digital assets also experienced significant fluctuations, with bitcoin dropping under $81,000 before climbing back over $84,000 and eventually stabilizing just above $83,000. Ether dropped to a low of $2,400.
The sell-off across Asia highlighted growing unease surrounding artificial intelligence trades. Broadcom CEO characterized current AI spending as casino-like, which dampened investor confidence, while reported progress in memory-chip manufacturing at China’s CXMT fueled fears of fiercer competition for established semiconductor producers.
Samsung Electronics and SK Hynix spearheaded the market declines, losing 7% and 10% respectively.
Traders are additionally preparing for Wednesday’s U.S. consumer price index release, which serves as another potential catalyst for market swings. Headline inflation is projected at 3.6% on an annual basis, with core inflation anticipated at 2.5%. A headline figure matching that prediction would represent an acceleration from the preceding month’s 3.4% rate.
Meanwhile, the third-quarter corporate earnings period is gaining momentum, with JPMorgan Chase, Goldman Sachs, and Citigroup slated to release results later today, providing a fresh gauge of consumer demand, lending standards, and business activity.
Derivatives positioning
- Traders are being forced out, not piling in: Twenty-four-hour futures volume reached $212 billion, marking a 66% increase from yesterday’s $126 billion figure. Open interest, representing the monetary value of all active contracts, stood at $143.4 billion, reflecting a 1.58% decline. Liquidations jumped 284% to $813 million. High trading turnover alongside contracting open interest and forced closures indicates that leverage is being cleared out rather than accumulated.
- Sellers still have a slight edge in aggressive trading: The 24-hour long-to-short taker volume ratio settled at 48% to 52%, shifting away from yesterday’s figures when long positions constituted 52% of transaction flow. Taker volume measures transactions where market participants pay a premium for immediate execution, thereby highlighting dominant sentiment. Buyers are nearing parity but do not hold market control.
- SPCX and SNDK are the busiest futures in crypto, though they are small: They represent the most heavily traded contracts over the trailing 24 hours. Data from Coinglass indicates that 24-hour volume surged 700% for SPCX and 271% for SNDK. Open interest for both remains under $1 billion, staying considerably lower than major assets. This volume expansion primarily stems from rapid trading activity rather than a significant accumulation of positions.
- SNDK OI rises as the price falls: Open interest climbed nearly 9% concurrently with a 7% price decline. Because open interest is measured in dollar terms, the reduced asset price naturally diminishes the metric, meaning open contracts actually expanded by roughly 17%. This points to a net injection of fresh positions into a declining market, typically signaling new short positions, though some volume may reflect traders buying the dip.
- SK Hynix is another TradFi play: Open interest climbed 18% as prices dropped 8%, resulting in an underlying contract increase of approximately 28%. The prevailing risk-averse sentiment across South Korean equities is clearly mirrored in on-chain markets.
- Leverage continues to unwind from bitcoin and ether futures: Open interest for both assets declined by 2% or more, even as prices remained largely flat to negative over the trailing 24-hour window. Part of this decline stems strictly from lower asset values, making the net outflow of positions slightly smaller than 2%, yet an outflow persists. A similar trend applies to XRP, SOL, and HYPE.
- ZEC and NEAR’s OI drops along with their prices: The price of ZEC retreated by more than 7% over 24 hours while open interest shrank 11%, suggesting roughly 4% fewer active contracts. A day prior, a 7% increase in open interest alongside a 6% price advance represented a mere 1% capital inflow, indicating the recent reversal outweighs the prior buildup. NEAR demonstrates a comparable trend. Annualized funding rates for both assets remain positive near 7%, dropping from yesterday’s 10% level for ZEC, indicating long holders continue paying to maintain positions. The open-interest-adjusted cumulative volume delta, which monitors whether aggressive buyers or sellers predominate, registers negatively for both assets.
- SUI sellers are leading the market: SUI exhibits the most pronounced negative cumulative volume delta, spearheading the downward trajectory seen across major tokens, including bitcoin and ether. NEAR, which recorded the second-most positive reading yesterday, has flipped directions. Aggressive selling pressure is widespread. Annualized perpetual funding rates sit at negative 30% or lower, meaning short sellers compensate long position holders. A heavily crowded short side can experience rapid reversals if prices climb.
- Options traders are not rattled by the liquidations: Implied volatility metrics for bitcoin and ether stay anchored near year-to-date lows, signaling ongoing market stability. Implied volatility represents the options market’s expectation regarding future price fluctuations.
- Traders keep buying downside protection in bitcoin: Put options continue to lead 24-hour trading volume rankings for bitcoin for a second consecutive session. Put options gain value when bitcoin prices decline, making high trading volume indicative of hedging strategies. Meanwhile, ether trading flows remain mixed, though the dominant contract is the $2,500 put option expiring on October 16, boasting heavy volume that outpaces second- and third-place positions significantly.
Token talk
- Starknet has retreated over 17% during the past 24 hours to trade at $0.08, erasing a portion of its recent surge that nearly doubled its valuation. That prior advance occurred as the network weighed separating from Ethereum to function as an independent, quantum-resistant layer-1 network.
- LayerZero has likewise surrendered its recent gains, shedding 14%. STRK and ZRO rank as the two steepest decliners among the top 100 cryptocurrencies by market capitalization, while NEAR dropped 11%, demonstrating that the market correction extends beyond recent market outperformers.
- Blur dropped 33% after the non-fungible token marketplace announced plans to sunset its web interface and halt the matching of new Blend loans on November 12. Underlying marketplace smart contracts will stay operational, and the token will maintain governance over protocol fee structures.
- Autheo plummeted 92% in the wake of an apparent security exploit on the Base network. According to data from PeckShield, a malicious actor minted 19 million unauthorized tokens, swapped them for 700 units of ether valued at approximately $1.76 million, and bridged the funds over to the Ethereum network.
- Stacks bucked the broader downturn by advancing 11.4%. This upward movement coincides with the network expanding its bitcoin-staking initiative.
Originally published at https://www.coindesk.com/markets/2026/10/13/bitcoin-ether-slip-and-rebound-as-south-korean-stocks-slide-on-ai-related-concerns.
