Crypto Markets Today: Hawkish BOJ Comments Spur Sharp BTC Downturn

Markets Share Share this article Copy link X icon X (Twitter) LinkedIn Facebook Email Crypto Markets Today: Hawkish BOJ Comments Spur Sharp BTC Downturn A sharp sell-off following the CME bitcoin futures open, compounded by hawkish signals from the Bank of Japan, dragged the CoinDesk 20 down nearly 6% on Monday. By Oliver Knight , Omkar Godbole | Edited by Sheldon Reback Dec 1, 2025, 12:32 p.m. (Midjourney/Modified by CoinDesk) What to know : Fragile market depth and comments from BOJ Governor Kazuo Ueda hinting at a possible December rate increase triggered volatility across crypto and traditional markets. Over $430 million in altcoin liquidations hit as ZEC fell 20% and ENA/TIA slid more than 14%, pushing several tokens toward November’s key support levels. Marketwide RSI readings show oversold conditions, hinting at a potential relief rally even as the "altcoin season" indicator remains muted at 24/100. In this article BCH BCH $ 520.94 ◢ 4.34 % The crypto market reeled on Monday after a sell-off that occurred minutes after CME's bitcoin BTC $ 85,818.62 futures markets opened. The CoinDesk 20 (CD20) Index is down by 5.98% in the past 24 hours as a result. The jitters can be attributed to crypto's low liquidity trading environment that still hasn't recovered from October's $19 billion liquidation cascade. STORY CONTINUES BELOW Don't miss another story. Subscribe to the Crypto Daybook Americas Newsletter today . See all newsletters Sign me up By signing up, you will receive emails about CoinDesk products and you agree to our terms of use and privacy policy . Macro news in Japan also played a part as Bank of Japan Governor Kazuo Ueda made comments hinting at an interest-rate increase this month, a suggestion that lifted Japan's 30-, 10- and 2-year government bond yields to levels not seen since 2008. The potential move to raise interest rates would strengthen the yen, potentially causing hedge funds that historically borrow the yen to buy risk assets like bitcoin to reposition. Derivatives positioning The market swoon was accompanied by capital flight from crypto futures, where open interest (OI) in coins like ZEC, SUI, UNI, ENA collapsed by over 10% in 24 hours. OI in BTC has dropped by 2% while ether's OI has ticked higher slightly to 12.51 million ETH, the most since Nov. 21. Traders could be shorting the price drop. Sentiment has decisively shifted bearish in the wider market, as evidenced by the -7% to -11% annualized funding rates for several tokens such as SOL, BBB, XRP, AVAX and DOT. Negative rates imply a bias for bearish short positions. Volmex's BVIV, the 30-day bitcoin implied volatility index, shot up during Asian hours, signaling renewed fear as prices dropped. The index briefly topped 55% and has since retreated slightly to 53%. On Deribit, put skews have strengthened in short- and near-dated BTC and ETH options. Block flows featured BTC strangles and ETH straddles. Both strategies are employed by traders when anticipating a volatility boom. Token talk The altcoin market wasn't immune to the wider crypto market slump on Monday; zcash ZEC $ 356.50 lost 20% of its value in 24 hours while ENA $ 0.2393 and TIA $ 0.5697 dropped by 16% and 14%, respectively. Of the $637 million worth of liquidations in the past 24 hours, more than $430 million were caused on the altcoin market as several tokens formed lower highs to extend downtrends dating back to early October. The market is now approaching a perilous position because if November's lows are taken out it would confirm a bearish reversal from October's highs. However, the average relative strength index (RSI) indicator is currently showing "oversold" conditions, which means the market is likely due a relief rally at some point as those in short positions take profits. A handful of tokens are still positive over the past seven days. These include layer-1 blockchain token KAS, which is up by 29% and SKY, the DeFi token formerly known as MKR, which rose 17% in the past week after a series of buybacks were announced. The "altcoin season" indicator remains stuck at 24/100, down dramatically from September's heights of 78/100 to suggest that investors still prefer the more liquid and more stable bitcoin. Crypto Markets Today Markets Derivatives More For You Protocol Research: GoPlus Security By CoinDesk Research Nov 14, 2025 Commissioned by GoPlus What to know : As of October 2025, GoPlus has generated $4.7M in total revenue across its product lines. The GoPlus App is the primary revenue driver, contributing $2.5M (approx. 53%), followed by the SafeToken Protocol at $1.7M. GoPlus Intelligence's Token Security API averaged 717 million monthly calls year-to-date in 2025 , with a peak of nearly 1 billion calls in February 2025. Total blockchain-level requests, including transaction simulations, averaged an additional 350 million per month. Since its January 2025 launch , the $GPS token has registered over $5B in total spot volume and $10B in derivatives volume in 2025. Monthly spot volume peaked in March 2025 at over $1.1B , while derivatives volume peaked the same month at over $4B. View Full Report More For You Japan to Cut Crypto Tax Burden to 20% Uniform Rate in Boost for Local Bitcoin Traders By Shaurya Malwa 3 hours ago The proposed tax change, supported by the government, will categorize crypto profits under a separate-taxation framework. What to know : Japan plans to implement a flat 20% tax on cryptocurrency gains, aligning them with equities and investment trusts. The proposed tax change, supported by the government, will categorize crypto profits under a separate-taxation framework. Currently, crypto gains in Japan are subject to progressive taxation, which can reach up to 55%, discouraging domestic trading. 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