Bitcoin BTC$71,476.89 rose 1.2% after midnight UTC, mirroring gains in U.S. equities, with Nasdaq 100 futures up by 1% over the same period.
The advances follow oil’s retreat below $100 per barrel on Tuesday after U.S. President Donald Trump proposed a “15 point plan” to end the war in Iran, although Iranian officials dismissed Trump’s statement as fake news.
The crypto market remains resilient to the conflict with consistent outperformance of traditional haven assets gold and silver since early February.
Bitcoin has forayed above $72,000 twice this month, each time followed by a selloff that sent prices to between $67,000 and $65,000.
Traders are opening short positions in this region, resulting in a disproportionate increase in open interest.
Portions of the altcoin market are outperforming bitcoin, with decentralized finance (DeFi) tokens LDO and ETHFI rising by between 2.5% and 3.5% since midnight.
Derivatives positioning
- Industry-wide crypto futures open interest (OI) rose to a one-week high of $112 billion.
- The top 10 tokens, including BTC and ETH, all registered increases of 4% or more in futures open interest in the past 24 hours.
- Ether OI jumped to 14.55 million ETH, the most since Aug. 24. This, coupled with positive funding rates and cumulative volume delta, point to growing demand for bullish bets or longs.
- DOGE and ZEC are other standout tokens with OI increases of over 10% in 24 hours.
- Bitcoin’s 30-day implied volatility index, BVIV, dropped for a third straight day, nearing the weekly low of 53% to indicate a fading geopolitical risk premium. Ether’s volatility is declining, too.
- On Deribit, BTC and ETH put skews continue to weaken, although overall pricing still shows downside concerns across all tenors.
- Friday’s multibillion dollar expiry points to $75,000 as the potential magnet. The max pain theory suggests a potential bounce toward that level.
Token talk
- The CoinDesk Computing Select Index (CPUS) is the best-performing benchmark on Wednesday, rising by 1.9%. The bitcoin-heavy CoinDesk 20 (CD20) gained 0.9% over the same period.
- The CPUS Index is made up of AI tokens TAO and FET as well as chainlink LINK$9.3755, which makes up 62% of the index weighting.
- LINK is up by 1.5% while TAO and FET have increased by 4.9% and 2.9%, respectively.
- CoinMarketCap’s “Altcoin Season” indicator remains at 48/100, in bullish territory after spending much of February languishing at around 22/100.
- On the flip side, privacy coins XMR and ZEC fell, losing around 1% each as traders rotated between altcoin sectors to position themselves ahead of a potential breakout.
Disclaimer: The information on this page may come from third parties and does not represent the views or opinions of Gate. The content displayed on this page is for reference only and does not constitute any financial, investment, or legal advice. Gate does not guarantee the accuracy or completeness of the information and shall not be liable for any losses arising from the use of this information. Virtual asset investments carry high risks and are subject to significant price volatility. You may lose all of your invested principal. Please fully understand the relevant risks and make prudent decisions based on your own financial situation and risk tolerance. For details, please refer to
Disclaimer.
Related Articles
BTC fell below 77000 USDT
Gate News bot message, Gate quotes show that BTC fell below 77000 USDT, trading at 76961.6 USDT.
CryptoRadar27m ago
NYSE Welcomes Morgan Stanley’s MSBT Launch as First Spot Bitcoin ETF Issued by a Major US Bank
Bank-backed bitcoin ETFs are accelerating institutional adoption and strengthening market credibility. The NYSE marked a new milestone as Morgan Stanley Investment Management rang the closing bell and celebrated the launch of MSBT, which the NYSE described as the first spot bitcoin ETF by a major
Coinpedia4h ago
BTC falls 0.49% in 15 minutes: fragile long leverage and active sell-off pressure resonate to weigh on the short term
From 18:00 to 18:15 (UTC) on 2026-04-17, the BTC price fluctuated and trended downward within the 77097.4 to 77573.2 USDT range. Over these 15 minutes, the return rate recorded -0.49%, and the amplitude reached 0.61%. During this period, market trading was active; short-term volatility was amplified, and trading attention increased significantly. The main driver behind this abnormal move is that the overall leverage structure is bearish and long positions are fragile. At present, the BTC perpetual contract funding rate has remained negative for 11 consecutive days, indicating that the bears have the upper hand in the market. In addition, futures open interest (OI) is about 628.3 billion USDT, which is at a historical high. During the anomaly window, trading volume increased noticeably. On-chain data shows large amounts of BTC flowing from long-term holder addresses to exchanges, suggesting that active sell orders may have triggered longs to passively reduce positions, amplifying downward price pressure. Moreover, institutional positioning enthusiasm in the mainstream contract market has cooled off; liquidity boundaries have tightened, causing large-trade activity to have an amplified effect on market volatility. In the options market, implied volatility rose to 39.81%, increasing demand for downside protection and reflecting a defensive posture among market participants. Macro-environment volatility and some capital flowing into safe-haven assets, together with the recent regulatory uncertainty-related historical events, reinforced the move, pushing overall market risk appetite lower. Current BTC leverage risks still remain. If, in the future, there are concentrated sell-offs, volatility may be further amplified. It is recommended to continue monitoring sustained high OI levels, the persistence of negative funding rates, and on-chain transfers of large amounts of funds, and to stay alert for whale behavior and any disruptions to market sentiment caused by macro-policy developments. For subsequent price action, please watch key support levels, institutional and whale on-chain moves, and relevant global market news, and guard against short-term risks.
GateNews5h ago
Bitcoin Liquidations Hit $815M as BTC Surges Above $78K Amid Iran Strait Opening
Over $815 million in leveraged cryptocurrency positions were liquidated recently, mainly due to short positions against Bitcoin. Markets improved as Iran reopened the Strait of Hormuz and Trump hinted at a deal with Iran, boosting Bitcoin prices significantly.
GateNews5h ago
Cardano Founder Hoskinson Warns BIP-361 Could Freeze 1.7M Bitcoin
Charles Hoskinson warned that Bitcoin's BIP-361 upgrade, meant to address quantum threats, is wrongly classified as a soft fork. It could freeze 1.7 million BTC, including 1 million from Satoshi Nakamoto, as early coin owners can't prove ownership.
GateNews6h ago
