Bitcoin Bounces Back Toward $77,300 as Zcash Leverage Clears Out

Zcash open interest tumbles (Coinalyze data)

Summary

Bitcoin changed hands close to $77,300, marking a 0.7% increase since midnight UTC, though still down 0.87% across a 24-hour window, sitting 6% under the peak from the previous week.
Total crypto futures open interest contracted to $59.5 billion while 24-hour liquidations moved up to $256.3 million, with Zcash experiencing the most dramatic contraction in market positioning.
The majority of assets within the CoinDesk 100 ticked upward alongside positive momentum in U.S. stock index futures and precious metals as market participants anticipated crucial August inflation metrics ahead of the Federal Reserve meeting scheduled for Sept. 15-16.

Bitcoin BTC$77,305.17 is exchanging hands near $77,300, advancing 0.7% since midnight UTC while remaining down by 0.87% over a 24-hour period, based on figures from CoinDesk Indices. The digital asset trades 6% below last week’s top mark of $82,284.

Ether ETH$2,514.61 gained 1.6% on Friday and stands higher on a 24-hour basis, positioning itself as one of the few prominent large-cap cryptocurrencies to erase its earlier declines. Solana (SOL) has tacked on just under 1% starting from midnight.

Within the CoinDesk 100, 68 components are trading green on the day, marking a distinct turnaround from Thursday’s adverse 86-14 distribution. The index picked up 0.5%, although it remains 1.6% down over 24 hours with 80 tokens still showing losses across that broader timeframe.

The memecoin index led performance as the top sector gainer, rising 0.73% since midnight UTC. Mirroring yesterday’s trend, the speculative sector is seeing the heaviest movement, albeit in the opposite direction.

Conventional financial markets are displaying broad strength. S&P 500 index futures climbed 0.48%, Nasdaq futures rose 0.56%, gold gained 0.74%, and silver added 0.92%, whereas the Dollar Index stayed flat. U.S. consumer price figures for August are scheduled for release at 8:30 a.m. ET, representing the final major economic indicator before the FOMC gathers to determine interest rates on Sept. 15-16.

Derivatives positioning

Aggregate open interest across crypto derivatives dropped from $62.4 billion on Wednesday down to $59.5 billion, accompanied by $94.2 billion in 24-hour volume, according to Coinalyze. Liquidations totaled $256.3 million over the preceding day, rising from $142.3 million earlier in the week.
Bitcoin open interest remains largely steady at $25 billion, increasing by 0.12% across 24 hours and representing 42.1% of the aggregate market. Data from Coinalyze indicates that total bitcoin open interest peaked around $26.8 billion on Sept. 4 and has gradually trended downward since, indicating that leverage has been clearing out over a week rather than during a sudden liquidation cascade.
Zcash recorded by far the most aggressive reduction. Open interest plunged 20.1% to settle at $1.4 billion as its price dropped 9% to $1,112.10, accompanied by $17.2 million in liquidated positions. Funding rates slipped into negative territory at -0.0016%, making it the sole major token showing a negative rate.
Bitcoin accounted for $60.3 million in liquidations alongside ether at $46.5 million, which together comprised over 40% of the entire market wipeout.
Funding levels stay positive yet muted, with the combined bitcoin rate sitting at 0.0036% and the projected rate at 0.0026%. The aggregated long-to-short account proportion is 1.114, showing 52.67% longs versus 47.29% shorts, reflecting a near-neutral posture.
Hyperliquid (HYPE) and XRP both experienced open interest reductions of roughly 5% over 24 hours, standing at $2.5 billion and $1.2 billion respectively.

Token talk

Pacing the CoinDesk 100 is theta network THETA$0.1828, jumping 11% since midnight UTC to $0.19 and gaining 6.9% across 24 hours.
Solana-centric decentralized exchange token raydium RAY$1.6994 advanced 10% on the day to hit $1.60 and 18% over 24 hours, marking its third straight session leading the index following gains of 5.8% and 8.5% earlier in the week.
Perpetuals exchange asset lighter (LIT) climbed 5.8% to reach $4.54, clawing back a portion of the 15% loss sustained during the previous day.
Zcash (ZEC) gained 3.4% since midnight to trade at $1,116.06, though it stays 8.8% lower over a 24-hour duration, representing the deepest single-day retracement among assets capitalized above $10 billion.
Morpho MORPHO$2.3033 moved up 3.6% to $2.34 and sits 2.3% higher on the 24-hour window, remaining as one of the few mid-cap cryptocurrencies showing positive returns across both timeframes.
CoinMarketCap’s “Altcoin Season” metric stands at 38 out of 100, remaining in neutral ground after a brief jump to 51 out of 100 on Tuesday.