Bitcoin traded above $71,000 after weeks of turbulence, while derivatives data showed a sharp drawdown in leverage and ongoing dominance of short positions. Open Interest has fallen by more than $24 billion since 6 October and funding rates remain mostly negative, even as aggressive buyers and shrinking exchange reserves offer some support.

RIVER logged a roughly 34% price surge within 24 hours, emerging as the top gainer in the crypto market while technical indicators like MACD and RSI signaled solid upward momentum. However, bullish positioning slid from 82% to 58% and a nearby resistance zone now poses a risk of a downturn that could see prices revisit the $12.24 area.

Bitcoin rebounded above $67,000 after dropping to $60,030 in the early hours of 28 February. Analyst Benjamin Cowen warns the move may mirror 2022, with a potential $70,000–$84,000 relief rally before a lower high, while CryptoQuant's realized price near $72,700 and CoinGlass liquidation zones at $68,596 and $65,656 shape near‑term risk.

VIRTUAL declined 12% in 24 hours, taking its weekly loss to 11% as derivatives traders shifted sharply into short positions. Open interest in VIRTUAL perpetuals fell by $9.4 million to about $76 million, while spot buyers accumulated roughly $245,000 worth of tokens during the pullback. On-chain metrics show user numbers near 24,000 and protocol revenue down to around $32,000 from $133,000 on 14 February, highlighting weaker activity.

Bitcoin’s long-term holders are increasingly active around a cost basis of $38,900 while the spot price trades far higher, highlighting potential downside risk if historical patterns repeat. On-chain indicators show renewed coin movements and modest profit-taking from long-term investors, but recent selling has been led mainly by short-term holders.

On 24 February, Kraken announced xStock perpetual futures contracts that provide 24/7 leveraged trading of tokenized equities backed 1:1 by underlying shares in over 110 countries. Coinbase is adding spot stock trading through its Coinbase One app via a partnership with Yahoo Finance and plans tokenized U.S. equity products later this spring. These moves come as crypto market capitalization hovers near $2.24 trillion after a 47.5% drop since the 6 October 2025 crash, while the S&P 500 has gained 17% over the same period.

Bitcoin has seen about $1.163 trillion erased from its market capitalization since its October peak of $2.515 trillion, while U.S. institutional appetite has weakened and ETF redemptions have risen. Around $2.81 billion has left U.S. spot Bitcoin ETFs over the last two months, and recent spot net buying of roughly $305 million across three days points to fragile demand as retail traders try to absorb ongoing selling pressure.

Ethereum Classic declined nearly 9% over the past 24 hours as derivatives metrics turned decisively bearish. CoinGlass data show about 9% of liquidity left the ETC perpetual market, leaving open interest around $90.12 million and the OI-weighted funding rate at -0.0282. A move above $9.94 would be needed to challenge the broader downtrend.

Bitcoin stayed range-bound below $68,009 and hovered near $68,085, with a dense liquidation cluster around $69,000 acting as resistance. Sell-side dominance in the Buy/Sell Pressure Delta points to lingering downside risk, while futures volume fell 48% to $31.97 billion and options volume dropped 59% to approximately $992 million.