Bitcoin holds around $70,000 as rising open interest points to cautious bearish sentiment.

Bitcoin Holds Near $70K as Open Interest Rises, Altcoins Outperform Amid Risk-Off Macro Backdrop

Bitcoin (BTC) traded around $69,800–$70,100, down roughly 0.1% since midnight UTC, while open interest in crypto futures climbed to $102 billion, signaling defensive, bearish positioning in the market. The largest cryptocurrency has remained range-bound between $71,700 and $69,000 over the past 48 hours, with volatility easing despite ongoing geopolitical tensions in the Middle East.

Oil prices returned toward $100 per barrel after reports of a sixth ship being attacked by Iran in the Strait of Hormuz, fueling concerns about global energy supply. The crypto market, however, has remained resilient. Hyperliquid’s HYPE token advanced 2.5% since midnight toward $40, while MORPHO, ETHFI, and XMR also posted gains.

U.S. stock futures showed weakness, with the Nasdaq 100 and S&P 500 down roughly 0.6% overnight. The Dollar Index (DXY) returned toward 100 after Wednesday’s CPI report, dampening expectations for rate cuts.

Derivatives Activity
Crypto futures open interest (OI) rose 2% in the past 24 hours. Bitcoin and Ether OI increased by 2% and 4%, respectively, while annualized perpetual funding rates and cumulative volume delta (CVD) remained flat to negative, suggesting that rising OI is driven more by defensive, bearish bets than aggressive longs.

Hyperliquid’s HYPE token extended its 24-hour gains to 9%, though futures OI remains near multimonth lows (~40 million HYPE), indicating limited leverage demand. Tether Gold (XAUT) saw futures OI drop to 93.5K, the lowest since Feb. 28, down from a March 2 peak of 149.7K, reflecting cooling interest in gold-linked assets.

Bitcoin and Ether’s 30-day implied volatility indices (BVIV and EVIV) remained steady despite oil rallies and falling U.S. stock futures, suggesting traders see little immediate cross-asset contagion. On Deribit, BTC and ETH put options trade at a premium to calls, with notable interest in the $20,000 BTC put, signaling hedging against major downside risk.

Altcoins Show Resilience
The altcoin market outperformed in a risk-off environment. DeFi token SKY gained 7.6% in 24 hours, while AI-focused TAO rose about 4.5%. NIGHT, the privacy token launched by Cardano founder Charles Hoskinson, lagged, down 10% to $0.046 after Tuesday’s Binance listing provided liquidity for early sellers.

The CoinDesk 80 (CD80) Index, altcoin-heavy, rose 2.5% over 24 hours, outperforming the bitcoin-heavy CoinDesk 5 (CD5), which gained 0.9%. Analysts note that the altcoin market’s next leg higher may depend on BTC breaking above $74,000. A breakout on strong volume followed by consolidation could trigger rotation into more speculative tokens.