Altcoins rally on thin trading as bitcoin holds below $83,500
Bitcoin is trading below $83,500 while altcoins experience a rally on thin market liquidity. Meanwhile, institutional interest in spot ETFs has cooled, and global oil prices have eased following diplomatic developments regarding Russian diesel supply.
Why it matters
The report captures the current volatility in crypto markets and the intersection of digital assets with broader macroeconomic factors like inflation and energy policy.
Bitcoin BTC $84,155.39 is trading below $83,500, after hitting a high above $84,000 on Sunday, while ether ETH $2,554.00 has added around 2.5% to trade at $2,560.
The gains are coming from the thinnest part of the market. A year on from the Oct. 10, 2025 flash crash, order-book depth for bitcoin and ether has recovered to pre-crash levels in dollar terms, while altcoin liquidity has continued to erode, according to CoinDesk research.
“Market makers have returned to majors,” Joshua de Vos, research lead at CoinDesk said in Saturday’s report .
Institutional money is heading the other way, with U.S.-listed spot bitcoin ETFs recording $681 million of net outflows last week, the most since June, according to SoSoValue. Most of the selling came on Wednesday and Thursday. Spot ether ETFs have not had a day of inflows since Sept. 28. The nine-day run of outflows is the longest since June.
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