Bitcoin notched a strong overnight advance, rising as much as 3.7% before trimming part of the gain, while altcoins outpaced the market and the “altcoin season” metric climbed to its highest reading since January.
BTC saw choppy trading during Asian hours, briefly spiking before easing. Despite the pullback, the cryptocurrency remains up about 2.4% since midnight UTC, hovering near $65,600 — still locked within the sideways band that has contained prices for the past three weeks.
Momentum across the broader crypto complex picked up. Layer-1 tokens solana (SOL) and cardano (ADA) each added roughly 4.5%, while VIRTUAL, MORPHO and ETHFI surged more than 10%, reflecting renewed appetite for higher-beta names.
Traditional markets echoed the move. U.S. equity index futures edged higher alongside digital assets, and silver’s roughly 4% rally since midnight suggests a wider speculative push across risk assets rather than a news-driven catalyst.
From a technical perspective, the average crypto relative strength index (RSI) has rebounded from oversold levels into neutral territory, pointing to the likelihood of consolidation following the recent recovery.
Derivatives overview
Total crypto futures open interest climbed more than 1.5% to $93.5 billion. However, much of that increase appears to stem from higher spot valuations instead of fresh capital entering the derivatives market.
Open interest in bitcoin and ether (ETH) futures held broadly steady over the past 24 hours. By contrast, futures tied to tether gold (XAUT) registered a 12% decline in open positions, signaling rotation away from gold-backed instruments.
TRX, AVAX, SOL, LINK and HBAR recorded the strongest 24-hour cumulative volume delta (CVD) readings, indicating that buy-side pressure exceeded sell-side flows in those markets.
Bitcoin’s 30-day annualized implied volatility index (BVIV) fell back to 56%, reversing an earlier jump to 65% and suggesting calmer conditions. Ether’s volatility traced a similar path, reinforcing the view that the market may stabilize in the near term.
On Deribit, the $60,000 bitcoin put option has emerged as the most heavily held contract, highlighting ongoing demand for downside protection. Across BTC and ETH options, puts continue to command higher premiums than calls, reflecting a cautious tone among traders.
Altcoin spotlight
The altcoin season indicator reached its strongest level since early January, supported by broad-based gains.
AI-focused token VIRTUAL led the charge, climbing 15.5% since midnight and more than 20% over the past 24 hours, making it the top performer within the CoinDesk 80 (CD80) index, which itself gained 1.7%.
Restaking protocol ETHFI advanced more than 10% after CEO Mike Silagadze signaled the potential launch of a stablecoin.
Morpho’s native token extended its rally with a 15% daily gain, bringing its 30-day advance to 45.9%.
On the other hand, toncoin (TON) and pippin (PIPPIN) slipped into negative territory after earlier weekly gains, underscoring continued asset rotation among traders.
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