Bitcoin remains under $70,000 as DOT and UNI drive altcoin rally.

BTC remained within a clearly defined range as Polkadot and Uniswap surged, while Cosmos declined.

BTC stalls near $70,000 (Jametlene Reskp/Unsplash modified by CoinDesk)

What to know:

• BTC continues to trade within a range of $62,500 to $71,100 after reaching $70,000.
• DOT surged by 21% in anticipation of March’s 50% reward reduction. UNI increased by 15% following a governance vote aimed at enhancing revenue capture.
• ATOM fell by more than 6%, highlighting the liquidity weakness present in altcoins.

Bitcoin BTC$68,201.79 paused during Asian hours on Thursday, trading at $68,600 after testing $70,000 in a vigorous U.S. session on Wednesday.

As February nears its conclusion, the leading cryptocurrency remains within a trading range that has been stable since the start of the month, having touched $62,500 on Tuesday and $71,100 to the upside on February 15.

It is important to mention that Bitcoin previously broke a similar trading range upward in January, which led to a trap for breakout traders before the price fell from $98,000 to $60,000 over the following three weeks, establishing a lower high in this recent bearish trend.

A few tokens have outperformed the wider altcoin market. HYPE has risen 4.3% since midnight UTC as it approaches $30, while privacy token Decred (DCR) reached its highest level since November after climbing 4%.

U.S. stock index futures are relatively stable, with NVIDIA’s earnings report not sustaining momentum amid ongoing doubts about inflated AI valuations.

Derivatives positioning

• The total open interest (OI) in the crypto futures market has surged by over 6.6% to nearly $100 billion. This increase surpasses the growth in the total crypto market capitalization, indicating a new influx of capital into the market.
• ADA and ETH futures are particularly noteworthy, with OI rising by 21% and 15%, respectively. Several other altcoins have experienced increases of 9%.
• Bitcoin’s OI rise of over 3% seems primarily linked to the increase in the spot price.
• The 30-day implied volatility indices for BTC and ETH, BVIV and EVIV, remain close to weekly lows, suggesting market stability and supporting potential price increases.
• Most tokens, including Bitcoin and Ether, have seen annualized perpetual funding rates stabilize to just above zero, indicating a renewed preference for bullish long positions.
• On Deribit, Bitcoin’s price rebound has sparked interest in call options with strike prices ranging from $85,000 to $90,000. However, the overall options market still shows a preference for puts, indicating ongoing downside concerns.
• The $60,000 put option continues to be the most favored bet, with a notional open interest exceeding $1.4 billion.

Token talk

• The layer-1 token DOT$1.5772 achieved a 21% gain over the past 24 hours. Although the momentum slowed during European hours, investor interest remains strong ahead of the network’s reward halving scheduled for March.
• Uniswap’s governance token (UNI) also experienced a rise, increasing by 15%. This surge is linked to a recent governance vote proposing an enhancement in the protocol’s revenue capture across multiple layer-2 networks.
• One token that notably underperformed was ATOM$1.9091, which fell more than 6%, with the decline continuing into European hours. There is no apparent bearish catalyst for this move, reflecting a persistent vulnerability in altcoins due to inadequate liquidity.
• Major cryptocurrencies ADA$0.2911 and Ether (ETH) increased by approximately 8.5% since Wednesday morning. These movements are notable as open interest for both assets rose, implying they were supported by leverage rather than spot buying, according to Coinalyze.