Bitcoin drops from recent highs as traders watch CME gap, DeFi hack fallout

Markets Share Share this article Copy link X icon X (Twitter) LinkedIn Facebook Email Bitcoin drops from recent highs as traders watch CME gap, DeFi hack fallout Bitcoin pulled back after Friday’s surge as traders considered a CME futures gap, a DeFi exploit rattled altcoins and macro pressures weighed on sentiment. By Oliver Knight , Omkar Godbole | Edited by Sheldon Reback Apr 20, 2026, 10:51 a.m. Make preferred on BTC/USD (CoinDesk Data) What to know : Bitcoin and ether fell, though a CME futures gap is fueling expectations of a possible move higher. A $292 million exploit tied to rsETH triggered DeFi contagion fears, slashing Aave’s total value locked and pressuring altcoins. Rising oil prices and weaker equity futures weighed on risk assets, reinforcing bitcoin’s relative outperformance. The crypto market is trading back in familiar territory following a short-lived spike to its highest point since early February on Friday. Bitcoin BTC $ 74,857.89 is trading a hair under $75,000 while ether (ETH) is at $2,300, both significantly lower than Friday's highs of $78,300 and $2,460. One reason for traders to be bullish is that the bitcoin futures market on the CME, a venue favored by institutions, closed at $77,540 on Friday and opened at $74,600 to create "CME gap" that spans 3.8% to the upside. A similar gap occurred last week and was filled before the end of the day on Monday. The first steps have been taken: Bitcoin's gained 1.5% since midnight UTC, suggesting sentiment is warming following a volatile weekend. The market tumbled over the weekend as shipping through the Strait of Hormuz came to a halt after opening on Friday. The renewed closure led to a jump in the price of crude oil from $78 to $88 per barrel. This weighed on risk assets, with Nasdaq 100 and S&P 500 futures both down by 0.59% since midnight. Derivatives positioning Marketwide, crypto open interest (OI) held steady near $120 billion over the past 24 hours. Trading volume, in contrast, jumped 30%, suggesting a surge in activity without a corresponding increase in new positions. That potentially points to increased turnover, short-term positioning or traders rotating risk rather than deploying fresh capital. OI in solana (SOL), bitcoin BTC $ 74,857.89 , ether (ETH) and XRP (XRP) held largely steady. OI in HYPE futures declined by 3% alongside as the price fell, pointing to capital outflows. Elsewhere, OI in AVAX and SP 500 perpetuals rose by 6% to 10%, respectively. OI in AAVE futures surged to a record high of 3.46 million tokens as collateral damage from the weekend exploit of KelpDAO led to rapid withdrawals of from the Aave lending platform. Funding rates tied to BTC, ETH and several other tokens flipped negative, indicating a bias for short positions that would benefit from a price drop in these tokens. BTC and ETH options on Deribit continue to trade pricier than calls in a sign of lingering downside concern. Block flows featured bias for BTC call spreads, which are directional bets, and ether straddles, a volatility play. Token talk The altcoin sector was rocked by a $292 million exploit of Kelp DAO's rsETH token over the weekend, leading to contagion risks across the DeFi market. Total value locked (TVL) on Aave dropped from $26.5 billion to $17.5 billion as a result, with the exploit sparking fears of bad debt hitting Aave’s WETH pool, triggering heavy withdrawals and a liquidity crunch. Aave's token, AAVE, rose 2.2% on Monday after tumbling 22% on Saturday. The bitcoin-dominant CoinDesk 20 (CD20) Index advanced 1% on Monday, outperforming the altcoin-weighted CoinDesk 80 (CD80) and the DeFi Select Index (DFX), which are up by 0.6% and 0.9%, respectively. One particularly volatile token is celestia (TIA), which remains 3.9% down over the past 24 hours even after surging by more than 4% since midnight. CoinMarketCap's "Altcoin Season" indicator is at 36/100, demonstrating investor preference for bitcoin following Friday's short-lived breakout. Crypto Markets Today More For You Bitcoin is rallying as flagship conference approaches, data shows the gains rarely last By James Van Straten | Edited by Sheldon Reback 28 minutes ago After a 50% slide and partial recovery for bitcoin, traders are watching whether the Las Vegas event marks another short-term top for bitcoin. What to know : Bitcoin tends to underperform in the week and month following conferences, despite mixed price action during the events, historical data from 2019–2025 shows. With BTC recovering to around $75,000 from February lows, the key question is whether weaker positioning breaks the usual post-conference selloff pattern. Read full story Latest Crypto News Bitcoin is rallying as flagship conference approaches, data shows the gains rarely last 28 minutes ago Here's how bitcoin's $7.9 billion April options expiry impact prices 59 minutes ago A $300 million borrowing spike on Aave signals liquidity crunch after exploit 1 hour ago Bitcoin, ether, solana slide, oil jumps on renewed U.S.-Iran war risks 5 hours ago LayerZero blames Kelp's setup for $290 million exploit, attributes it to North Korea's Lazarus 5 hours ago The $13 billion DeFi wipeout in two days, and it started with KelpDAO attack 6 hours ago Top Stories 'DeFi is dead': crypto community scrambles after this year's biggest hack exposes contagion risk 17 hours ago The $292 million Kelp exploit: how it happened, and what it means for DeFi 12 hours ago Previewing Consensus' Policy Summit: State of Crypto 16 hours ago Aave sees $6 billion deposit drop as Kelp hack exposes structural risk for DeFi lender 19 hours ago Inside the rise of wrench attacks against crypto holders and how France has become the focus 20 hours ago RaveDAO's RAVE token collapses 90% in a day as exchange probes widen 20 hours ago In this article BTC BTC $ 74,857.89 ◢ 0.57 %