Bitcoin held near the $90,000 level on Friday as thinning trading volumes and weak liquidity continued to sap momentum, leading to erratic price action across major cryptocurrencies and a mixed showing among altcoins.

The world’s largest cryptocurrency traded within a narrow band over the past 24 hours, drifting back toward Thursday’s lows while remaining just above $90,000. Bitcoin has been locked in this range since late November as market participation steadily declines.

Spot trading volume fell 9% over the past day to about $38 billion, far below the $80 billion to $130 billion routinely seen several months ago. With activity drying up and liquidity shallow, prices across bitcoin and altcoins have been prone to sharp moves that quickly reverse, punishing traders relying on leverage.

Altcoin performance was uneven. Polygon’s POL token led the market higher, jumping 7.8% since midnight UTC after the project announced a pivot toward becoming a neobank. Maple Finance’s SYRUP and Zcash (ZEC) also advanced, while tokens such as SKY and TON moved lower.

Derivatives markets reflected the quieter tone. About $200 million in crypto futures positions were liquidated over the past 24 hours, well below the $400 million or more seen on each of the previous three days, signaling that many traders are staying on the sidelines. Bitcoin’s 30-day implied volatility, measured by Volmex’s BVIV index, cooled to 43% from 47.3%, reversing a late-December spike. Ether’s EVIV slipped to 60%, its lowest level since Oct. 11.

Total notional open interest in crypto futures declined to $138.5 billion from more than $141 billion earlier in the week, with open interest falling across most major tokens. ZEC stood out with a 14% increase, likely driven by hedging activity amid recent price swings. Funding rates for most major perpetual contracts remained positive, indicating continued demand for bullish exposure, though XLM, WLFI, CRO and TRX persisted with negative rates.

Options markets showed a preference for volatility-driven strategies. On Deribit, straddles and strangles accounted for nearly 30% of bitcoin option block flows over the past 24 hours, underscoring positioning around potential volatility rather than outright price direction. For ether, traders favored strangles and call spreads.

Despite POL’s strong rally to its highest level since Nov. 20, liquidity remains thin. The token’s 2% market depth is just $197,000 on the upside, meaning a buy order of roughly $200,000 could move the price by more than 2%.

Elsewhere, several altcoins underperformed the broader market. SKY slipped 1.7% since midnight UTC, while TON fell 4.3%. Privacy-focused tokens reversed some of Thursday’s moves, with Monero (XMR) edging lower and Zcash rebounding more than 14% from its lows as concerns over a recent development team shakeup appeared to ease.