Bitcoin and ether moved sideways on Friday as softer U.S. equity futures reinforced a risk-off tone, while selective altcoins advanced amid thin market liquidity.

Bitcoin hovered around $88,950, little changed on the day, while ether fell roughly 1% since midnight UTC to trade near $2,920. The subdued price action tracked declines in U.S. stock index futures, with Nasdaq 100 futures down about 0.4% and S&P 500 futures lower by roughly 0.25%.

Risk aversion was more apparent in traditional safe havens, where gold and silver pushed to fresh record highs this week as investors sought safety. The cautious mood followed the first trilateral talks between Ukraine, Russia and the United States, with markets showing limited confidence that negotiations will yield a swift resolution.

Despite the broader softness, parts of the altcoin market showed relative strength. LayerZero’s ZRO token jumped 12% over the past 24 hours as traders positioned ahead of a major upgrade slated for early February. Tron’s TRX and Dash also gained around 3%, with thin liquidity amplifying price movements.

Derivatives positioning

More than $200 million in crypto futures positions were liquidated over the past 24 hours, with long positions accounting for most of the losses. The trend has persisted through the week as drifting prices caught bullish traders offside.

Bitcoin’s 30-day annualized implied volatility index (BVIV) slid back to 40%, unwinding a brief jump to 44% earlier in the week. The decline reflects continued demand for volatility-selling strategies such as covered calls.

Ether was the only top-10 cryptocurrency to record a modest increase in futures open interest over the past day. In contrast, bitcoin, XRP and solana saw capital exit derivatives markets. Open interest–adjusted cumulative volume delta data pointed to net buying in TRX, ZEC and BCH, while bitcoin and several other assets registered net selling.

Options markets continued to show greater caution toward ether. On Deribit, short-dated ETH put options were priced richer than comparable BTC puts, signaling relatively more bearish positioning on Ethereum. Block trades featured demand for BTC straddles alongside ETH put spreads.

Token talk

The “altcoin season” indicator edged up to 29 out of 100 from 24 a week earlier, suggesting traders are still probing for gains in an otherwise rangebound environment. The bitcoin-heavy CoinDesk 20 Index slipped about 0.6% since midnight UTC, while memecoin, DeFi and metaverse sector indexes moved higher.

Liquidity remains a structural challenge for altcoins. For example, the 2% market depth for TON stands between roughly $580,000 and $700,000, meaning relatively small orders can move the token’s $3.7 billion market capitalization by 2%. While this increases volatility, it also leaves scope for outsized upside if broader market sentiment improves due to thin sell-side order books.

Metaverse tokens remain the top-performing sector of the year so far. The CoinDesk Metaverse Select Index has gained about 50% since Jan. 1, supported by strong performances from Axie Infinity and The Sandbox.