bitcoin consolidated on Tuesday after hitting $76,000, the highest level since Feb. 4, in early trading. The largest cryptocurrency fell back to just under $73,500, down 1.5% since midnight UTC.
It is not the only cryptocurrency that has cooled down. Ether (ETH) lost 1.5%, solana (SOL) fell 2.5% and 4.5%.
Nasdaq 100 and S&P 500 futures, on the other hand, rose 0.6% despite oil trading above $100 a barrel and the war in Iran continuing to rage.
Despite the decline in crypto markets, the average Relative Strength Index (RSI) remains firmly in “overbought” territory, suggesting that further declines towards $72,000 may be in play.
However, such a move would resemble a period of consolidation after bitcoin rose more than 15% from $65,000 since March 8.
A bounce between $72,000 and $74,000 would indicate that a new support level is forming, which could serve as a platform for an ascent above $80,000.
Derivatives positioning
- Bitcoin futures open interest (OI) has increased 2% to a three-week high of 685.2K BTC. This, along with a positive cumulative volume delta (CVD), indicates a bias towards bullish long bets.
- Ether futures activity is also showing similar optimism as bitcoin.
- The SOL market is showing mixed signals. An OI rally is accompanied by negative funding rates and a CVD close to zero, indicating a bearish tinge.
- ADA and BCH stand out with slight falls in OI, a sign of capital outflow.
- Options traders seem more bearish on bitcoin than ether. On Deribit, bitcoin places a higher premium on call options expiring in short-term trading than ether put options.
- Volatility strategies, such as straddles, dominated bitcoin block flows. Ether traders chased call spreads and mixed options.
- In the case of BTC, two of the most popular options positions are the $60,000 put and the $75,000 call. Volatility increased early Tuesday as prices approached $75,000.
symbolic talk
- The altcoin market suffered a deeper pullback than the major cryptocurrencies since midnight, with some corners of the market falling more than 5% after a fierce rally on Monday.
- CoinMarketCap’s “altcoin season” indicator remains at 49/100, its highest point since the beginning of the year, reflecting the risk sentiment in altcoins.
- The US president-themed TRUMP memecoin lost more than 6% of its value in the past 24 hours as traders took profits from last week’s “gala luncheon” announcement.
- There was a similar drop for pepe (PEPE) after the frog-themed memecoin led the broader crypto market with a bullish move on Monday.
- The CoinDesk Memecoin Index (CDMEME) has been the worst-performing benchmark over the past 24 hours, losing around 1%, while the CoinDesk 80 (CD80), an index comprised of a wide range of altcoins, is up 1.35%.
