Bitcoin stays close to $90,000 with activity slowing, as altcoins break from the trend.

Bitcoin traded close to the $90,000 level on Friday as declining volumes and thin liquidity continued to weigh on market momentum, producing uneven price action across major cryptocurrencies and mixed performance among altcoins.

The largest cryptocurrency moved within a tight range over the past 24 hours, drifting back toward Thursday’s lows while holding just above $90,000. Bitcoin has been stuck in this range since late November, as participation across spot markets continues to fade.

Daily trading volume slid 9% to around $38 billion, a sharp step down from the $80 billion to $130 billion regularly seen several months ago. The combination of reduced activity and shallow liquidity has resulted in choppy price behavior across bitcoin and the broader altcoin market, with sudden moves often reversing quickly and penalizing leveraged positions.

Altcoins sent conflicting signals. Polygon’s POL token led gains, climbing 7.8% since midnight UTC after the project announced a strategic pivot toward becoming a neobank. Maple Finance’s SYRUP and Zcash (ZEC) also advanced, while tokens including SKY and TON moved lower.

Derivatives data pointed to cooling risk appetite. Roughly $200 million in crypto futures positions were liquidated over the past 24 hours, well below the $400 million or more seen on each of the previous three days, suggesting traders are increasingly waiting on the sidelines. Bitcoin’s 30-day implied volatility, tracked by Volmex’s BVIV index, eased to 43% from 47.3%, unwinding a late-December spike. Ether’s EVIV also fell to 60%, its lowest level since Oct. 11.

Total notional open interest in crypto futures declined to $138.5 billion from above $141 billion earlier in the week, with most major tokens seeing reductions. ZEC stood out with a 14% rise in open interest, likely reflecting hedging activity amid recent price swings. Funding rates for most major perpetual contracts remained positive, indicating ongoing demand for bullish exposure, though XLM, WLFI, CRO and TRX continued to post negative rates.

In options markets, volatility-focused strategies dominated trading. On Deribit, straddles and strangles accounted for nearly 30% of bitcoin option block flows over the past 24 hours, pointing to positioning around potential volatility rather than directional bets. For ether, traders favored strangles and call spreads.

Despite POL’s strong rally to its highest level since Nov. 20, liquidity in the token remains thin. Its 2% market depth stands at just $197,000 on the upside, meaning a purchase of roughly $200,000 could push the price more than 2%.

Elsewhere, several altcoins lagged the broader market. SKY fell 1.7% since midnight UTC, while TON dropped 4.3%. Privacy-focused tokens reversed some of Thursday’s moves, with Monero (XMR) edging lower and Zcash rebounding more than 14% from its lows as concerns surrounding a recent development team shakeup appeared to ease.