Derivatives market turns collectively bearish! Bitcoin resurfaces at the $60k level as $1 billion in put options comes to the fore, while SOL is targeted by record-high short positions in a sniper-style hit

According to CoinDesk, the cryptocurrency market experienced a fierce sell-off on June 4th, with Bitcoin dropping to $61,300 at one point, and total network liquidations over the past two days reaching $3 billion. Although Bitcoin is currently temporarily stabilizing around $62,500, the derivatives market has issued a clear bearish warning: $1 billion in funds are betting on $60k put options, and altcoins like Solana are also facing record-breaking short-selling pressure.
(Background: Standard Chartered Bank claims "Bitcoin bottom is in"! Listing two major bullish reasons: year-end target of $100k remains unchanged)
(Additional context: The Great Escape! Bitcoin falls below $63k, hitting a 14-day low, with 166k traders liquidated totaling $1.12 billion, with multiple groups accounting for 85%)

The cryptocurrency market experienced a wave of heavy selling and liquidations on Thursday. According to the latest market data, Bitcoin (BTC) briefly dipped to $61,300 around 2 a.m. UTC, precisely hitting the critical support level of the 200-week moving average (200WMA). The price then rebounded, reaching a high of $64,680, but as of press time, Bitcoin remains weak, hovering around $62,500.

Ethereum (ETH) also performed poorly, declining about 3% since midnight, currently trading around $1,750. This sudden sharp drop triggered forced liquidations of futures positions totaling up to $1.7 billion (Bitcoin accounting for $750 million, Ethereum for $390 million). Over the past two days, the accumulated liquidations have reached an astonishing $3 billion, marking one of the most severe bloodbaths in months. Analysts point out that investors are withdrawing funds from the crypto market and shifting to traditional financial markets chasing AI hype, compounded by geopolitical uncertainties, further intensifying selling pressure.

Derivatives market issues a clear "bearish" warning

Although Bitcoin has temporarily held above $60,000, data from the derivatives market signals extreme unease. Over the past 24 hours, total futures trading volume increased slightly to $305 billion, but open interest plummeted by 8.5% to $111.4 billion. Bitcoin's open interest dropped from over 800k coins yesterday to 766k coins, indicating that many long positions have been wiped out, while shorts have not yet actively built new positions.

Meanwhile, the "Put Skew" in the options market is rapidly intensifying, showing that investors are willing to pay higher premiums for downside protection. Data shows that on Deribit, open interest for $60,000 strike put options has surpassed $1 billion in notional value; additionally, the most actively traded options in the past 24 hours are those with a $55,000 strike. Furthermore, implied volatility indices BVIV and EVIV have surged significantly over the past three days, indicating that market sentiment is overwhelmingly bearish.

Solana under attack by hundreds of millions in shorts, altcoins bloodied

In this downturn, altcoins have performed notably worse than the two main cryptocurrencies, with declines exceeding 12% to 13%, including NEAR, ZEC, JUP, and HYPE (which just hit a new high this week). In a liquidity-scarce environment, liquidation effects have greatly amplified the declines of altcoins.

Notably, Solana (SOL) has exhibited an abnormal extreme phenomenon in the derivatives market. Despite its price continuing to fall, SOL's open interest has hit a record high of 72.16 million coins. The pattern of "price falling, open interest rising" usually indicates that large short positions are actively entering the market to target these tokens (TRX and ADA show similar patterns), reflecting strong bearish expectations for these tokens.

Overall, the proportion of Bitcoin's circulating supply that is "in loss" has exceeded the profit-taking ratio, a characteristic often seen at market bottoms in history. However, in the short term, the survival of altcoins heavily depends on Bitcoin holding the $60,000 support level; if it breaks below, a deeper liquidation spiral could be triggered.