Altcoins rise as Bitcoin approaches possible $74,000 surge.

The bitcoin price is nearing a significant technical threshold as PEPE and other memecoins experience gains exceeding 10%, indicating an increased risk appetite.

PEPE leads memecoin surge (PepeCoin’s Twitter account modified by CoinDesk)

What to know:

• BTC is trading near $73,000. A significant break above $74,000 with robust volume could initiate a rally towards $80,000, a previous support level from November.
• Tokens such as PEPE, BONK, and PENGU have shown impressive gains, contributing to an altcoin season index of 48 and increasing the cryptocurrency market capitalization, excluding bitcoin, to approximately $1.1 trillion.
• Overbought indications on the relative strength index suggest that memecoins might experience a pullback before any sustained advancement in the broader altcoin market.

The cryptocurrency market is on the verge of a significant breakout as bitcoin BTC$73,685.87 is valued at $73,000 and ether (ETH) at $2,250, its peak since February 4.

If bitcoin, the leading cryptocurrency by market cap, can surpass $74,000 with convincing volume, it is likely to rally back to $80,000, a support level noted in November before a subsequent drop in January.

A failure to break through may result in a return to a trading range between $62,000 and $72,000, which has been stable for over a month.

However, the primary focus on Monday is not on major cryptocurrencies, but rather on the altcoin market and specifically memecoins.

PEPE has surged approximately 20% in the last 24 hours, with BONK and PENGU also recording double-digit increases. Nonetheless, “overbought” conditions on the average relative strength index (RSI) imply a potential pullback before any breakout occurs.

Oil prices remain elevated, exceeding $106 per barrel, despite reports that the U.S. is contemplating a coalition to escort ships through the Strait of Hormuz, a vital trade route.

U.S. stock futures have risen by about 0.5%, and crypto-related companies are seeing gains in pre-market trading. Crypto exchange Coinbase (COIN) recently increased by 3%, while Circle Internet (CRCL) rose by 5%. Bitcoin treasury firm Strategy (MSTR) gained 4%.

Precious metals have declined, and the dollar has weakened, indicating a risk-on sentiment.

Derivatives positioning

• Industry-wide futures open interest has climbed over 8% to $112.34 billion in 24 hours, suggesting heightened risk-taking in the market.
• Open interest (OI) in ether (ETH) and ADA$0.2896 futures saw increases of 16% and 19%, respectively, leading among major cryptocurrencies. This highlights a strong investor preference for smart contract tokens. OI in bitcoin rose by over 5%.
• In the case of ether, OI in coin terms reached 14.34 million ETH, the highest since September 2025.
• Speculation is evident in non-serious tokens such as DOGE$0.1015: Open interest related to this cryptocurrency has surged over 11%.
• The increase in OI across most major tokens coincides with positive perpetual funding rates and cumulative volume deltas, indicating a rising interest in bullish leveraged positions.
• On Deribit, however, puts associated with bitcoin and ether continue to trade at higher premiums than calls across all timeframes. This reflects ongoing demand for downside protection despite the market rebound. Persistent put premiums could also be attributed to overhead call selling.
• For XRP, the $1.40 strike call and put options are the most sought after, collectively holding a notional open interest of $14 million, which constitutes nearly 25% of the total XRP options open interest on the exchange.

Token talk

• The altcoin market is experiencing a positive sentiment as the “altcoin season” index reaches 48/100, the highest in over two months.
• The total cryptocurrency market cap, excluding bitcoin, hit $1.1 trillion on Monday, adding around $40 billion in the past 24 hours and $10 billion since midnight UTC, according to TradingView.
• The top-performing CoinDesk benchmark in the last 24 hours has been the Smart Contract Platform Select Capped Index (SCPXC), which includes ETH, SOL, ADA, and SUI among layer-1 networks. The SCPXC has increased by 6.3%, closely followed by the Memecoin Index (CDMEME), which has risen by 5.2%.
• AI-focused token bittensor (TAO) has decreased by 3.7% since midnight. This represents a consolidation phase rather than a decline after it surged by over 69% from March 8 to March 15.
• It seems that some of those profits are being redirected into another AI project, FET$0.2052, which has seen a 60% rise in daily trading volume to $195 million, with the token increasing by 11% as a result.