Bitcoin climbs as risk sentiment improves, altcoins hit by exploit concerns

Markets Share Share this article Copy link X icon X (Twitter) LinkedIn Facebook Email Bitcoin climbs as risk sentiment improves, altcoins hit by exploit concerns Bitcoin advanced while altcoins continued to struggle after the weekend's DeFi exploit, with markets eyeing Middle East tensions and shifting risk sentiment. By Oliver Knight , Omkar Godbole | Edited by Sheldon Reback Apr 21, 2026, 10:36 a.m. Make preferred on Bitcoin price (CoinDesk Data) What to know : Bitcoin rose to $76,500 and faced resistance near $77,000 as traders defended a breakout above $78,300. Ether and altcoins lagged after the $290 million KelpDAO exploit, with DeFi tokens under pressure and sentiment still fragile. Markets are tracking developments in the war with Iran, with easing tensions potentially boosting risk assets and weighing on oil. The crypto market is showing signs of strength on Tuesday with bitcoin BTC $ 76,542.87 rising to $76,500, a gain of about 1% since midnight UTC. The price spiked to around $77,000 at 9:45 a.m. before meeting a wave of spot sellers, who are probably protecting a potential breakout above Friday's high of $78,300. Ether (ETH) lagged behind bitcoin, rising just 0.3% to $2,320 as investors remained cautious around altcoins following the $290 million exploit on KelpDAO over the weekend. Price action is still being dictated by the war in Iran, with the U.S. vice president due to travel to Pakistan for peace talks. A resolution is likely to lower oil prices, helping boost risk assets that have been inversely correlated since the war began. U.S. stock index futures rose, demonstrating a return to risk-on sentiment. Derivatives positioning The long-short ratio for the crypto futures market is 50.68%, indicating a near-even split between bullish and bearish positions. In other words, traders are largely undecided on the direction of the market’s next move. In the past 24 hours, major tokens such as BTC, SOL, HYPE and BNB have added 1%-3% in futures open interest (OI), a sign of capital inflows. ETH, DOGE and ZEC have seen slight declines in OI. Open interest in AAVE futures has climbed to a record 3.59 million tokens. At the same time, the OI-adjusted cumulative volume delta has turned negative — indicating that sell orders are dominating and pushing into bids — while funding rates remain near zero. Taken together, the setup points to a slight bearish bias. Bitcoin and ether funding rates remain negative, suggesting a bias toward short positions. This consistent bearish environment creates potential for a short squeeze. That's a scenario in which price resilience prompts bears to mass-dump their bets, adding to the upward momentum in the spot price. On the CME, activity in BTC futures continues to cool, even as the exchange-traded funds pull in millions. This combination indicates that inflows into the ETFs are mainly bullish directional plays rather than arbitrage bets involving a short BTC futures position against the ETF's long position. On Deribit, BTC and ETH puts continue to trade at a premium to calls, reflecting downside concerns. Speaking of block flows (large trades executed over-the-counter), straddles and strangles cumulatively account for over 50% of the activity over the past 24 hours. Token talk The altcoin market is still reacting to the weekend's $290 million exploit on KelpDAO with decentralized finance (DeFi) tokens ethena (ENA), etherfi (ETHFI) and jupiter (JUP) all posting losses over the past 24 hours despite a marginal recovery since midnight UTC. The CoinDesk Memecoin Index (CDMEME) is the worst-performing benchmark on Tuesday, losing 0.24% while the bitcoin-dominant CoinDesk 20 (CD20) is up by 0.65%. The altcoin market is showing indecision, with the CoinDesk 80 (CD80) remaining flat during the Asia and European sessions. AAVE is beginning to claw back some of its weekend losses after a 22% drop, adding 2.6% despite widespread negative sentiment across the DeFi sector. CoinMarketCap's "Altcoin Season" indicator is at 39/100, rising from the weekend's low of 34/100, but still demonstrating investor preference for bitcoin over to altcoins. Crypto Markets Today More For You Strategy overtakes BlackRock IBIT in bitcoin holdings after bear market buying By James Van Straten , AI Boost | Edited by Jamie Crawley 57 minutes ago Leveraged accumulation and new capital tools push MSTR ahead of the world’s largest spot bitcoin ETF. What to know : Strategy now holds 815,061 BTC, surpassing IBIT’s 802,824 BTC, marking its first lead since Q2 2024. Strategy held 189,150 BTC at the start of Q1 2024. 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