Bitcoin and Ethereum were little changed as investors awaited U.S. inflation data.

Crypto derivatives markets are flashing cautious optimism, with leverage largely cleared out, funding rates turning positive and institutional basis firming — even as traders continue to pay up for short-term downside hedges.

Bitcoin briefly climbed to test $67,000 early Friday before pulling back, but was still up about 1% since midnight UTC. Ethereum advanced roughly half as much. The broader market gauge, the CoinDesk 20 Index, edged up around 0.7%.

The modest bounce follows a weak U.S. session on Thursday that pushed prices back toward last week’s lows. Despite the stabilization, bitcoin remains on track for a fourth consecutive weekly decline — its longest losing streak since mid-November. Slower trading activity and fading volatility have also dampened overall market volumes.

Attention is now turning to the upcoming U.S. Consumer Price Index (CPI) release. A stronger-than-expected inflation reading could lift Treasury yields and the dollar, adding pressure on risk assets such as cryptocurrencies. A softer print, on the other hand, could reinforce expectations for easier financial conditions and support renewed risk-taking.

Still, a substantial rally would be required to propel bitcoin toward $85,000 — a level that Jean-David Péquignot, chief commercial officer at Deribit, has said would indicate the long-term uptrend is no longer “broken.”

Derivatives Overview

• Open interest has fallen to $15.5 billion, suggesting that excess leverage from the previous cycle has largely been flushed out.
• Perpetual futures funding rates have flipped from neutral to positive across major exchanges, ranging between 0% and 8%. Institutional sentiment appears to be improving as the three-month annualized futures basis climbed above 3%, signaling firmer professional conviction.
• In options markets, call activity accounts for about 65% of volume, while the one-week 25-delta skew eased to 17.9%. However, implied volatility remains in short-term backwardation, indicating traders are still willing to pay a premium for immediate downside protection.
• Data from Coinglass shows $256 million in liquidations over the past 24 hours, with 69% tied to long positions. Bitcoin led with $112 million in liquidations, followed by ether at $52 million and other tokens at $16 million.
• The liquidation heatmap on Binance highlights $68,800 as a key level to monitor if prices extend higher.

Token Developments

PUMP, the token linked to Solana-based memecoin launchpad Pump.fun, has gained more than 5% in the past 24 hours.

The platform recently introduced a feature allowing token communities to distribute fees directly through its mobile app, including integration with GitHub accounts. The update enables automated payouts to creators and is expected to be followed by additional social tools.

Communities can now allocate a share of token-generated fees to support GitHub creators, who must claim rewards via the app.

Pump.fun was a key driver of last year’s memecoin trading boom, when its monthly volumes surpassed $11 billion. Activity has since cooled significantly, with volumes dropping to about $1 billion last month, according to data from DeFiLlama.

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