Bitcoin reached a one-week high near $83,500 on October 21, 2026, as an earnings-driven rebound in Asian technology stocks supported cryptocurrency price gains. Zcash and Near outpaced the largest tokens, while futures trading accelerated and Elon Musk confirmed merger discussions between SpaceX and Tesla, whose combined balance sheets hold more than 30,000 bitcoin.
Key takeaways
- Bitcoin climbed 0.6% from midnight UTC alongside stronger Asian equities.
- Zcash gained about 11% over 24 hours ahead of its November upgrade.
- Crypto futures turnover reached $190 billion, with $284 million in liquidations.
Asian technology rally supports cryptocurrency price gains
South Korea’s Kospi rose 3.29% and Nasdaq 100 futures advanced 0.44% as strong corporate results lifted risk assets. Ether followed bitcoin higher, gaining 0.6% from midnight UTC to around $2,460.
SpaceX and Super Micro Computer delivered strong results on October 20. SpaceX reported third-quarter revenue of $14.6 billion, up 161% from a year earlier and above the $12.72 billion consensus estimate compiled by LSEG. Its shares jumped 10% on October 21.
SpaceX chief financial officer Bret Johnsen attributed the performance to recurring Starlink revenue and the expansion of its Super Intelligence infrastructure. That business generated $7.56 billion in quarterly revenue, compared with $813 million a year earlier.
SpaceX and Tesla explore merger involving bitcoin holdings
SpaceX and Tesla have established special board committees to consider a merger, Musk said on an earnings call. A combination would bring together more than 30,000 bitcoin, valued at $2.5 billion, held on their balance sheets.
Musk, CEO of both companies, described cooperation as a reason to consider combining them. “I do think there’s a lot of merit to combining the companies as we are pretty much in the superintelligence singularity, and there’s a lot to be gained from cooperating,” he said.
Zcash and Near outperform on upgrade and governance developments
Zcash extended its roughly 11% daily gain after developers scheduled NU7 for November, while Near rose 6.0% alongside growth in its cross-chain swap product and a token-issuance proposal.
Zcash traded near $1,260, up 0.9% from midnight UTC but still down around 12% over the month. NU7 will reduce block intervals from 75 seconds to 25 seconds, allowing payments to confirm three times faster. It will also direct 60% of transaction fees into a reserve distributed over time.
Near reached about $5.23. Its NEAR Intents swap product uses part of its fees for token buybacks, while a governance proposal would lower annual token issuance from 2.5% to 1.6% over two years.
Solana’s Alpenglow upgrade, targeting finality of about 150 milliseconds, was scheduled to go live on October 21.
Futures activity rises as volatility expectations ease
Cryptocurrency price gains coincided with a 19% increase in 24-hour futures volume to $190 billion. Liquidations climbed 76% to $284 million, while open interest—the value of outstanding futures positions—rose nearly 4% to $145 billion.
The taker long-to-short volume split was approximately 53% to 47%, favoring bullish positions. Zcash open interest increased 24%, and its annualized funding rate stood at 10%. XMR open interest rose 8% to more than $300 million, near record levels, with funding at 4%.
Funding rates varied sharply elsewhere: BTW’s annualized rate was minus 77%, while ARB and ETC also had slightly negative rates.
Bitcoin’s 30-day implied volatility index fell below 40%, reversing its move above 42% on October 15. Ether’s equivalent gauge also indicated cooling volatility expectations.
On Deribit, bitcoin’s one-month put-call skew stood at 8%, reflecting a preference for puts. Calls above the spot price nevertheless occupied the five most-traded positions, with most volume coming from synthetic, multi-legged strategies rather than outright bullish bets.
Article produced with the assistance of artificial intelligence and reviewed by the editorial team.