Bitcoin consolidated Tuesday after hitting $76,000, its highest level since Feb. 4, in early trade. The biggest cryptocurrency fell back to just below $73,500, down 1.5% since midnight UTC.
It is not the only cryptocurrency that has cooled. Ether (ETH) lost 1.5%, solana (SOL) fell 2.5% and 4.5%.
Nasdaq 100 and S&P 500 futures, on the other hand, rose 0.6% despite oil trading above $100 a barrel. barrel, and the war in Iran continued to rage.
Despite the decline in the crypto markets, the Average Relative Strength Index (RSI) remains firmly in “overbought” territory, suggesting that further declines towards $72,000 may be on the cards.
However, such a move would look like a period of consolidation after bitcoin rallied more than 15% from $65,000 since March 8.
A bounce between $72,000 and $74,000 would indicate that a new level of support is forming, potentially serving as a platform for a climb above $80,000.
Derivatives positioning
- Bitcoin futures open interest (OI) is up 2% to a three-week high of 685.2K BTC. This, combined with positive cumulative volume delta (CVD), indicates a bias for bullish long bets.
- Ether’s futures activity is also exhibiting bitcoin-like bullishness.
- SOL’s market is flashing mixed signals. A rebound in OI is accompanied by negative fund rates and near-zero CVD, suggesting a bearish tinge.
- ADA and BCH stand out with small drops in OI, a sign of capital outflows.
- Options traders seem more bearish on bitcoin than ether. At Deribit, bitcoin expirations trade in the short term at a greater premium for calls than ether.
- Volatility strategies such as straddles dominated bitcoin block flows. Ether traders chased call spreads and straddles.
- In the case of BTC, two of the most popular options are the $60,000 put and $75,000 call positions. Volatility picked up early Tuesday as prices neared $75,000.
Token talk
- The altcoin market suffered a deeper pullback than the major cryptocurrencies since midnight, with some corners of the market down more than 5% after a fierce rally on Monday.
- CoinMarketCap’s “altcoin season” indicator remains at 49/100 — the highest point since the turn of the year — reflecting the risk to altcoin sentiment.
- US presidential-themed memecoin TRUMP lost more than 6% of its value over the past 24 hours as traders locked in profits from last week’s “gala dinner” announcement.
- There was a similar drop for pepe (PEPE) after the frog-themed memecoin led the broader crypto market with a move to the upside on Monday.
- The CoinDesk Memecoin Index (CDMEME) has been the worst-performing benchmark over the past 24 hours, losing about 1%, while the CoinDesk 80 (CD80), an index comprised of a broad range of altcoins, is up 1.35%.
