Leading cryptocurrencies powered down for Thanksgiving as signs of an incoming alt season emerged.

What Happened: Bitcoin oscillated within the $95,000 zone for the greater part of the day. Trading volume for the apex cryptocurrency plunged by as much as 28%.

Ethereum made a quick surge to $3,640, only to reverse course to the $3,500 range.

Bitcoin and Ethereum dominance dipped over the last 24 hours, while the market share of the rest of the altcoins rose.

Total cryptocurrency liquidations exceeded $204 million in the last 24 hours, with more than $129 million in bullish leveraged positions getting wiped out.

About $627 million in long positions risked getting liquidated if Bitcoin retraces to $93,000.

Bitcoin's Open Interest (OI) fell 1.03% in the last 24 hours, while the dominance of traders shorting the digital asset also rose, per the Long/Shorts Ratio.

The "Extreme Greed" sentiment strengthened from 77 to 78 over the last 24 hours, according to the reading of the Crypto Fear & Greed Index.

Top Gainers (24-Hours)

The global cryptocurrency market capitalization stood at $3.32 trillion, contracting 0.26% in the last 24 hours.

Stock futures traded near the flatline Thursday overnight. The Dow Jones Industrial Average Futures rose 60 points, or 0.13%, as of 8 p.m. EDT.  Futures tied to the S&P 500 gained 0.08%, while Nasdaq 100 Futures added 0.07%.

Banks, post offices, shipping services, stock markets, and all the other over-the-counter markets like bond markets remained closed on the Thanksgiving holiday. 

Stock markets will reopen on Friday to close early by 1:00 p.m. ET.

See More: Best Cryptocurrency Scanners

Analyst Notes: Arthur Azizov, CEO of cryptocurrency payment provider B2BINPAY, told Benzinga that the market was on the brink of a "significant shift," transitioning from Bitcoin season to alt season.

"It’s very close now, as the altseason index is already at 59, according to CoinMarketCap, which is more than half. When the index reaches 75, we can confidently say the alt season has begun. The index rises with the number of altcoins outperforming Bitcoin," Azizov remarked.

Widely-followed cryptocurrency analyst Dom's Crypto noted Bitcoin was flipping the $95,000 resistance level into support.

"This will lead to a $100,000 BTC faster than anyone thinks," the analyst forecast.

Image via Shutterstock

Read Next:    

• Ethereum Outperformed Bitcoin This Week As Key Indicators Shift: Report