Crypto derivatives are beginning to reflect cautious optimism, with leverage largely cleared, funding rates back in positive territory and institutional basis firming — even as traders continue to pay a premium for near-term downside hedges.
Bitcoin advanced toward $67,000 early Friday before paring gains, but was still up roughly 1% since midnight UTC. Ethereum posted a smaller increase. The broader CoinDesk 20 Index edged up about 0.7%, signaling muted overall momentum.
The move higher follows a softer U.S. session on Thursday that pushed prices back toward last week’s lows. Despite the stabilization, bitcoin remains on track for a fourth straight weekly decline — its longest losing streak since mid-November. Trading volumes have thinned as volatility continues to fade.
Investors are now focused on the upcoming U.S. Consumer Price Index (CPI) release for clues on macro direction. A stronger-than-expected inflation print could lift Treasury yields and the dollar, weighing further on risk assets. Conversely, a softer reading may support expectations of more accommodative financial conditions and encourage renewed risk appetite.
Even so, a sustained rally would be required to propel bitcoin toward $85,000 — a level that Jean-David Péquignot, chief commercial officer at Deribit, has identified as key to restoring the cryptocurrency’s long-term bullish structure.
Derivatives Check
- Open interest has declined to $15.5 billion, suggesting excess speculative leverage has been largely flushed from the system.
- Perpetual futures funding rates have shifted from neutral to positive across major platforms, ranging between 0% and 8%. Institutional positioning appears to be strengthening, with the three-month annualized futures basis rising above 3%.
- In options markets, call contracts now account for about 65% of activity, while the one-week 25-delta skew has eased to 17.9%. However, implied volatility remains in short-term backwardation, indicating traders are still paying up for immediate downside protection.
- Data from Coinglass shows $256 million in liquidations over the past 24 hours, with 69% tied to long positions. Bitcoin led with $112 million in notional liquidations, followed by ether at $52 million and other tokens at $16 million.
- The liquidation heatmap on Binance flags $68,800 as a key upside level to watch.
Token Update
PUMP, the token associated with Solana-based memecoin platform Pump.fun, has risen more than 5% over the past day.
The platform recently introduced a feature that allows token communities to distribute fees directly through its mobile app, integrating GitHub accounts to streamline payouts. The new functionality enables creators to automatically receive a share of token-generated fees, with additional social tools expected in future updates.
Communities can allocate a portion of fees to support GitHub contributors, who must claim rewards via the app.
Pump.fun was a driving force behind last year’s memecoin trading surge, when its monthly volume surpassed $11 billion. Activity has since cooled significantly, with volumes falling to roughly $1 billion last month, according to data from DeFiLlama.
