Bitcoin inched higher alongside equities, but rising open interest and declining volatility suggest a growing build-up of leverage as the market continues to stall near the $72,000 resistance zone.
BTC gained around 1.2% after midnight UTC, tracking a similar move in U.S. equity futures, where the Nasdaq 100 rose about 1%. The advance followed a drop in oil prices below $100 after Donald Trump outlined a 15-point plan to end the Iran conflict, though Iranian officials rejected the claim.
Despite the upward move, bitcoin has struggled to sustain a breakout above $72,000 this month. Each push higher has been followed by a pullback into the $67,000–$65,000 range. These repeated rejections have led traders to build short positions near resistance, driving a notable increase in open interest.
Meanwhile, pockets of the altcoin market are outperforming. DeFi tokens such as LDO and ETHFI have gained between 2.5% and 3.5%, showing relative strength compared to bitcoin.
Derivatives positioning
Futures data points to increasing leverage across the market. Total crypto open interest has climbed to approximately $112 billion, marking a one-week high. The top 10 tokens, including BTC and ETH, have all recorded open interest gains of 4% or more over the past 24 hours.
Ether open interest has risen to around 14.55 million ETH, the highest level since late August. Combined with positive funding rates and a rising cumulative volume delta, this signals growing demand for long positions. DOGE and ZEC have also seen strong increases in activity, with open interest up more than 10% over the same period.
At the same time, volatility is trending lower. Bitcoin’s 30-day implied volatility index (BVIV) has declined for three consecutive sessions, approaching weekly lows near 53%, indicating a fading geopolitical risk premium. Ether volatility is also easing. On Deribit, put skew continues to soften, although options markets still reflect some demand for downside protection.
Attention is now shifting to Friday’s multibillion-dollar options expiry, where the “max pain” level near $75,000 could act as a short-term magnet for price action.
Token performance
The CoinDesk Computing Select Index (CPUS) led gains, rising 1.9%, while the CoinDesk 20 (CD20) added 0.9%. The CPUS index is heavily weighted toward AI-related tokens, including TAO, FET, and Chainlink.
LINK rose 1.5%, while TAO and FET gained 4.9% and 2.9%, respectively. Broader altcoin sentiment has improved, with CoinMarketCap’s Altcoin Season indicator climbing to 48/100 after lingering near 22 earlier in February.
On the downside, privacy-focused tokens such as XMR and ZEC slipped around 1%, as traders rotated capital across sectors ahead of a potential broader breakout.
