Bitcoin hovers below $77,500 with cooling volatility prompting traders to unwind leverage

Bitcoin traded sideways on Friday, holding within a tight range as derivatives activity cooled, pointing to a slowdown in near-term momentum. Meanwhile, altcoins delivered mixed signals, with Zcash emerging as a notable outperformer.

BTC remained confined between $77,500 and $78,500 since midnight UTC, reflecting subdued volatility. The consolidation follows a failed attempt to reclaim $80,000 earlier in the week. Despite the pause, the broader trend still appears constructive, with bitcoin continuing to register higher highs and higher lows throughout April.

Ethereum tracked bitcoin’s movement, declining დაახლოებით 0.9% over the same period while also trading within a narrow band.

In traditional markets, U.S. equity futures showed a mixed picture. Nasdaq 100 futures rose 0.5% on the back of strong tech earnings, while S&P 500 futures slipped marginally. The U.S. Dollar Index remained largely unchanged, even after Donald Trump confirmed a three-week extension of the Israel-Lebanon ceasefire. The dollar had previously weakened following the initial announcement earlier this month.

In crypto derivatives, bitcoin futures open interest fell by more than 6% over the past 24 hours to 744,300 BTC, signaling a reduction in leveraged positioning after the rally lost steam below $80,000. Supporting this trend, the open interest-adjusted cumulative volume delta turned negative, indicating stronger selling pressure, while funding rates stayed slightly below neutral—suggesting a tilt toward short positions.

Futures tied to major altcoins such as ETH, SOL, and XRP saw relatively muted activity. In contrast, Zcash recorded a surge in interest, with open interest rising nearly 7.5% to a 10-day high and trading volumes jumping 80%. Positive cumulative volume delta and funding rates highlight sustained buying demand and bullish positioning in the token.

Even as BTC and ETH prices softened, the broader market appears to view the move as a temporary consolidation. This is reflected in declining implied volatility, with bitcoin’s 30-day volatility index dropping to 42%—its lowest since late January—while ether’s fell below 65%, also marking a multi-month low.

Options data from Deribit continues to show a preference for downside protection. Risk reversals remain skewed toward put options across maturities, indicating ongoing hedging activity alongside strategies such as covered call selling to capture upside volatility.

Across sector indices, the CoinDesk Memecoin Index was the only one to post gains, edging slightly higher, while DeFi and computing-focused indices declined about 1%. Within DeFi, tokens like LDO and MORPHO led losses, dropping between 3% and 3.8% amid lingering negative sentiment following the $290 million KelpDAO exploit last weekend.

Zcash gave back a small portion of its gains on Friday but remained up more than 7% over the past 24 hours, supported by its recent listing on Robinhood.

CoinMarketCap’s Altcoin Season Index ticked up to 39 out of 100, suggesting a modest return of speculative appetite as bitcoin continues to consolidate.

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