Bitcoin held inside a well-established range on Thursday, even as activity intensified across select altcoins. During Asian trading hours, BTC hovered near $68,600 after briefly challenging the $70,000 level in a volatile U.S. session the day before.
As February nears its end, bitcoin continues to move between clearly defined support and resistance levels that have capped price action since early in the month. The cryptocurrency recently dipped toward $62,500 and earlier reached a high near $71,100 on Feb. 15, underscoring the market’s ongoing consolidation phase.
The setup resembles January’s range-bound stretch, which ultimately broke higher before reversing sharply. That move trapped breakout buyers and was followed by a three-week slide from $98,000 to $60,000, marking a lower high within the broader bearish structure.
Altcoin Moves Diverge
While bitcoin steadied, several altcoins posted outsized gains.
- Polkadot (DOT) jumped 21% over the past 24 hours, though momentum tapered in European trading. Investors appear to be positioning ahead of the network’s reward halving expected in March.
- Uniswap (UNI) advanced 15%, buoyed by a governance proposal aimed at increasing the protocol’s revenue share across multiple layer-2 networks.
- HYPE climbed 4.3% since midnight UTC, edging back toward the $30 level.
- Privacy-focused Decred (DCR) rose 4%, reaching its highest price since November.
- In contrast, Cosmos (ATOM) fell more than 6%, with losses extending into European hours despite the absence of a clear bearish trigger — reflecting fragile liquidity conditions in segments of the altcoin market.
Major assets also strengthened. Cardano (ADA) and Ethereum (ETH) gained approximately 8.5% since Wednesday morning. Importantly, open interest expanded alongside prices in both markets, suggesting the rallies were driven largely by leveraged futures activity rather than spot accumulation, according to Coinalyze.
Leverage Builds in Derivatives
Total open interest across crypto futures markets climbed more than 6.6% to nearly $100 billion — a faster pace than overall market capitalization growth, signaling fresh capital entering derivatives markets.
ADA and ETH futures led the increase, with open interest rising 21% and 15%, respectively. Several other altcoins saw gains near 9%, while bitcoin’s open interest grew by just over 3%, largely in line with spot price appreciation.
Volatility measures remain subdued. Bitcoin’s 30-day implied volatility index (BVIV) and ether’s EVIV hover near weekly lows, pointing to relatively calm market conditions that could support further upside. Meanwhile, annualized perpetual funding rates across major tokens have stabilized slightly above zero, indicating a modest bias toward bullish positioning.
On the options front, activity on Deribit shows renewed demand for bitcoin call options with strikes between $85,000 and $90,000 following the latest bounce. However, the broader options market still leans toward protective puts, suggesting traders remain cautious about downside risks. The $60,000 put contract continues to dominate positioning, with more than $1.4 billion in notional open interest.
Broader Market Context
In traditional markets, U.S. equity index futures were largely unchanged. Earnings from NVIDIA failed to spark sustained momentum, as investors remain wary that artificial intelligence–driven valuations may be stretched.
For now, bitcoin’s consolidation persists, but rising derivatives exposure suggests traders are quietly building positions ahead of a potential breakout.
