Crypto retreats as selling pressure meets whale buying and greed

↤ Past briefings

Updated 2026-09-24 00:10 UTC · Sentiment: Mixed

Bitcoin fell 2.139% to $84,390 and Ethereum declined 2.398% to $2,686.47 over 24 hours, with taker flow skewed toward selling in both markets. The broader tone is cautious but mixed: falling open interest suggests deleveraging, while positive whale flows and reported ETF inflows contrast with crowded ETH longs and a Greed sentiment reading.

Key points

• BTC open interest dropped 7.8% over 24 hours, with funding near flat at +0.0002% per eight hours, a 1.16 long/short ratio and a 0.56 taker buy/sell ratio. This points to deleveraging alongside sell-dominated taker activity, rather than clear funding overheating.
• ETH open interest slipped only 0.9%, while its long/short ratio stood at 2.78, funding at +0.0054% per eight hours and taker buy/sell ratio at 0.73. Long-heavy positioning against falling prices raises downside squeeze and volatility risk; no recent liquidation data are available to confirm a cascade.
• Reported whale net buying over the latest hour was +$98,534 for BTC and +$1,176,404 for ETH. These short-window inflows counterbalance some weakness, but Fear & Greed at 71/100 signals optimism that is not matched by current price momentum.
• TradingView's headline reports $877 million in combined Bitcoin and Ethereum ETF inflows in one day, offering a supportive institutional-demand signal. Separately, CoinDesk highlights a $16 billion quarterly Bitcoin options settlement with a call-heavy book, putting expiry-related volatility in focus without establishing direction.
• The September 24 calendar includes Australian employment, the SNB policy decision with a 0.00% rate forecast, and US unemployment claims forecast at 201K versus 196K previously. No recent major economic releases were supplied, so there is no fresh macro surprise to assess.

Simulation · not financial advice. This is a paper-trading market brief, not an investment recommendation.