Bitcoin Dips as PENGU Interest Soars: Market Update
Bitcoin Pullback Amid Altcoin Activity
Bitcoin (BTC) experienced a slight correction, pulling back from overnight highs above $116,000 to under $115,000. This movement coincides with a steady Dollar Index (DXY) despite growing expectations of an imminent Federal Reserve rate cut. The rate cut expectations are not yet impacting the dollar index.
Despite the BTC pullback, analysts remain optimistic, forecasting new all-time highs for Bitcoin and significant gains in specific altcoins, including HYPE, SOL, and ENA.
Altcoins Showing Strength
Market attention is increasingly shifting towards smaller-cap altcoins. Several tokens, including MYX, HASH, PENGU, PUMP, and MNT, have recorded price increases exceeding 10% this week.
According to Timothy Misir, Head of Research at BRN, recent economic data has created a favorable environment for crypto: “The CPI + jobs combo created a classic 'good news/bad data' trade: inflation prints higher, but weaker labor data preserves the easing narrative, a net positive for crypto in the near term.”
Derivatives Market Positioning
Key Observations:
- Open interest in futures tied to the top 10 cryptocurrencies has increased by 3%-5% in the past 24 hours, driven by strengthening expectations of Fed rate cuts.
- Annualized perpetual funding rates for major coins remain around 10%, indicating a bullish, but not overheated market. Positive funding rates generally signal bullish sentiment.
- Open interest in PENGU hit a record high of 7.78 billion coins, validating its recent price surge. Funding rates for PENGU are slightly elevated at approximately 15%.
- Smaller tokens like SKY and PYTH exhibit deeply negative funding rates, suggesting a bias towards bearish short positions.
- CME's Bitcoin futures are experiencing an increase in open interest, reversing a multi-week decline. Ether open interest has decreased to a one-month low of 1.78 million ETH, potentially indicating renewed focus on BTC.
- Options open interest in both BTC and ETH remain elevated at multi-month highs on Deribit, with a bias toward put options up to the December expiry.
Thorchain Founder Hacked
A co-founder of Thorchain, a decentralized network facilitating cross-chain asset transfers, was recently targeted in a hack. The attack involved a deepfake video call on Zoom.
“Ok so this attack finally manifested itself. Had an old metamask cleaned out,” JPThor stated on X.
Peckshield reported that $1.2 million was stolen from a Thorchain user, with ZachXBT linking the perpetrator to North Korean hackers.
Thorchain has been identified as a popular tool for North Korean crypto laundering operations. Researchers estimate that a significant portion of funds from the $1.4 billion Bybit hack was funneled through Thorchain and similar protocols.
The thorchain token (RUNE) is currently trading around $1.28, reflecting a 14% loss in value over the past month and a more than 90% decline from its March 2024 high of $12.95.
The hack involved social engineering and phishing techniques, contributing to the $2.5 billion stolen by hackers in the first half of 2025. This underscores the importance of robust security measures and user awareness within the crypto ecosystem. Projects launching tokens should consider services like KYC from platforms such as Codeum to strengthen their initial security posture.