Bitcoin edged higher alongside equities, but a surge in open interest paired with declining volatility highlights a build-up of leveraged positioning as price continues to struggle near the $72,000 ceiling.

BTC rose about 1.2% after midnight UTC, tracking gains in U.S. equity futures, with the Nasdaq 100 up roughly 1%. The move followed a drop in oil prices below $100 after Donald Trump outlined a 15-point proposal to end the Iran conflict, though Iranian officials dismissed the claim.

Despite the uptick, bitcoin has been unable to maintain a breakout above $72,000 this month. Each move higher has been met with selling pressure, pushing prices back toward the $67,000–$65,000 range. This repeated rejection has led traders to build short positions near resistance, driving a noticeable increase in open interest.

At the same time, parts of the altcoin market are outperforming. DeFi tokens such as LDO and ETHFI have gained between 2.5% and 3.5%, showing relative strength versus bitcoin.

Derivatives positioning

Leverage is building across crypto derivatives markets. Total futures open interest has climbed to around $112 billion, a one-week high. The top 10 tokens, including BTC and ETH, have all recorded open interest increases of 4% or more over the past 24 hours.

Ether open interest has jumped to roughly 14.55 million ETH, the highest level since late August. Combined with positive funding rates and rising cumulative volume delta, this suggests increasing demand for long positions. DOGE and ZEC have also seen notable activity, with open interest rising more than 10% over the same period.

Meanwhile, volatility continues to ease. Bitcoin’s 30-day implied volatility index (BVIV) has declined for a third consecutive session, nearing weekly lows around 53%, indicating a fading geopolitical risk premium. Ether volatility is also trending lower. On Deribit, put skew has softened further, though options markets still show some demand for downside protection.

Attention is now turning to Friday’s multibillion-dollar options expiry, with the “max pain” level near $75,000 potentially acting as a short-term price magnet.

Token performance

The CoinDesk Computing Select Index (CPUS) led gains, rising 1.9%, while the CoinDesk 20 (CD20) advanced 0.9%. The CPUS index is heavily weighted toward AI-related tokens, including TAO, FET, and Chainlink.

LINK rose 1.5%, while TAO and FET gained 4.9% and 2.9%, respectively. Broader altcoin sentiment has improved, with CoinMarketCap’s Altcoin Season indicator climbing to 48/100 after lingering near 22 earlier in February.

On the downside, privacy-focused tokens such as XMR and ZEC slipped around 1%, as traders rotated capital across sectors ahead of a potential broader breakout.