Bitcoin (BTC) prices held steady above the $27,000 level Friday even as broader financial markets showed mixed movements. Global oil prices retreated after a surge, while stocks in Asia and Europe inched higher as of Asian afternoon hours.
Crypto markets were buoyed mainly as participants expected increased demand in the short term as a formal ether (ETH) futures exchange-traded fund (ETF) was floated by financial giant VanEck. However, some analysts warned of selling pressure on riskier assets such as bitcoin, citing all-time highs in certain oil markets.
Some analysts priced in a 90% chance of the ETF getting approved in the first week of October, impacting bearish positions. Strength in crypto markets seemed to bump majors, such as Solana’s SOL and Cardano’s ADA tokens – each adding as much as 4.5%.
Traders at Japanese exchange Bitbank said in a daily note that they expect bitcoin prices to move towards the $28,000 level, citing ETF optimism.
“Despite the fact that the SEC postponed their decision to approve or disapprove Ark, BlackRock, and Valkyrie’s bitcoin ETFs this week, the market’s hope for spot bitcoin ETF approval seems to have been revitalized following the Ether Futures ETF decision,” analyst Yuya Hasegawa shared.
Meanwhile, Tellor’s TRB tokens continued a multi-week rally to rise some 10% in the past 24 hours, extending monthly gains to over 250%, data from CoinGecko shows. High funding rates on TRB futures could explain some of the demand for these tokens, analysts at Coinalyze said in a message, amid the lack of fundamental catalysts.
Funding rates are periodic payments that traders on perpetual futures markets pay from one side of the trade to the other. Depending on their open positions, traders will either pay or receive funding. The payments ensure there are always participants on both sides of the trade.
Participants utilize sophisticated strategies to collect funding rates while hedging losses due to token movements – which may, eventually, create market imbalance and volatility.