Crypto Markets Today: BTC Reclaims $111K, ETH Tops $4K After Last Week’s Sell-Off

Markets

Share this article

Bitcoin and ether regained key support levels Monday, leading a broader market recovery that saw altcoins like LINK and FLOKI surge as sentiment improved.

By Oliver Knight|Edited by Sheldon Reback

Oct 20, 2025, 12:00 p.m.

(Credit: Paul Kenny McGrath/Unsplash)
  • Bitcoin is back near $111,000 and ether has reclaimed $4,000 after last week’s $500 billion market wipeout, easing fears of further downside pressure.
  • BTC options show heavy call concentration at the $140K strike with $2.4 billion in notional exposure, while ETH mirrors similar bullish bets around $4K–$4.5K strikes.
  • LINK jumped 14% following large wallet accumulations, and FLOKI gained 27%, though broader altcoin sentiment remains muted with the altcoin season index at 26/100.

The crypto market has dragged itself upward following last week’s sell-off that saw BTC and ETH test major levels of support.

BTC now trades around $111,000 while ether is back above $4,000. There are also slivers of strength in the altcoin market; with LINK rising by 14% and FLOKI notching a 27% gain over the past 24 hours.

STORY CONTINUES BELOW

Don’t miss another story.Subscribe to the Crypto Daybook Americas Newsletter today.See all newslettersBy signing up, you will receive emails about CoinDesk products and you agree to ourterms of useandprivacy policy.

Sentiment is improving after last week’s liquidation cascade that temporarily wiped $500 billion off the crypto market. However, BTC and ETH both need to remain above their respective levels of support at $110,000 and $4,000 to avoid continuation of the trend to the downside, which could accelerate as liquidity is low compared to earlier this month.

  • BTC options positioning remains firmly bullish, with a put-call open-interest ratio of 0.66 and a large build-up at the $140K strike, where over $2.4B in notional call exposure is concentrated. This indicates traders are continuing to price in upside momentum into year-end, even as spot volatility rises.
  • Total open interest on bitcoin Deribit options has climbed to 427,746 contracts, marking a yearly high. The Dec. 26 expiry dominates ($14.3B notional), suggesting traders are extending bullish bets further out the curve while keeping tactical flexibility in shorter-dated options.
  • ETH options show similar positioning, with call dominance around the $4K–$4.5K strikes and rising open interest into late December expiries, mirroring BTC’s structure.

By Oliver Knight

  • An increase in value across several altcoins, notably popular memecoin floki, resulted in an improvement in sentiment across the crypto market on Monday, although CoinMarketCap’s altcoin season index remains at 26/100, indicating investor preference for bitcoin over speculative plays.
  • Bitcoin dominance, a metric used to assess how much of crypto’s total market cap can be attributed to BTC, is at 58.8%, an increase from this time last month when it was at 57.2%.
  • While there were signs of recovery on Monday, several altcoins are still significantly lower than they were a week ago. Synthetix is down by 30%, with others including FET, ASTER and BNB all facing losses of between 15% and 25%.
  • One of the drivers of positive sentiment on Monday was LINK, which rose by 14% after a series of wallets collectively withdrew $116 million worth of tokens from Binance, indicating accumulation following last week’s crash.
  • The average crypto relative strength index (RSI) is at 54.2/100, suggesting that the market is in a state of limbo as it distances itself from key levels of support but remains far off challenging major levels of resistance.

More For You

By CoinDesk Research

Oct 16, 2025

OwlTing logo

Commissioned by

OwlTing

OwlTing Report Open Graph Image

Stablecoin payment volumes have grown to $19.4B year-to-date in 2025. OwlTing aims to capture this market by developing payment infrastructure that processes transactions in seconds for fractions of a cent.

More For You

By Will Canny, AI Boost|Edited by Sheldon Reback

2 minutes ago

Stablecoin networks (Unsplash, modified by CoinDesk)

Stablecoins are growing alongside crypto, lifting Ethereum while new networks loom and the dollar stays dominant.

What to know:

  • Stablecoins are still largely used as an entry point to crypto, with little effect on overall bank deposits but potential pressure on funding costs, the report said.
  • Ethereum benefits from the boom, but Citi warned new networks could erode the blockchain’s dominance as dollar-backed coins continue to lead.

 

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *