Bitcoin maintained support near $68,000 on Tuesday while the US Dollar Index climbed from 96.6 to 99.4 over the past three weeks and gold slid 3.6%. At the same time, Bitcoin’s 30-day correlation with the Nasdaq 100 fell from 92% to 69%, and ETFs recorded $1.5 billion of net inflows since Feb. 24, highlighting resilient institutional demand despite a broader bear market.

Bitcoin futures open interest has fallen to $32 billion, the lowest level since August 2024, even as BTC’s price recently bounced from $63,000. At the same time, options data shows a put-to-call premium near 0.7 and $7.5 billion in CME futures open interest, indicating that institutions still participate but with reduced bullish leverage. Onchain holdings by public companies and daily spot ETF volumes above $3 billion further suggest that institutional exposure has not disappeared.

Ether has fallen 36% in 2026 and retreated toward $1,900, even as Ethereum's core development targets base-layer scalability, privacy, and quantum resilience. Despite weak price action, Ethereum and its layer-2 networks retain 65% of total value locked and dominate RWA activity, while major financial institutions continue launching onchain initiatives.

On Friday, Bitcoin fell below $65,500 as U.S. wholesale inflation and equity jitters intensified. Analysts cut U.S. stocks to neutral on overvaluation, a weaker dollar and policy risks, while the 10-year yield slid to 3.97% from 4.21% over three weeks, sparking rotation talk toward BTC.

Bitcoin retested $70,000 on Wednesday after Tuesday's dip to $62,500, but derivatives gauges stayed cautious into Thursday. US-listed spot Bitcoin ETFs saw $764 million of net inflows across two sessions, while the 2-month futures basis held near 2% and the 30-day options skew showed puts priced at a 14% premium to calls.

Bitcoin traders are preparing for Friday's $10.5 billion monthly options expiry, with current data showing put options holding the upper hand while BTC trades around $68,800. Deribit leads the market with the bulk of open interest, and scenarios modeled around price ranges between $65,000 and $74,000 all currently favor sellers unless Bitcoin can stage a 9% move back above $75,000. A strong 90% correlation with the Nasdaq 100 suggests that tech sector sentiment and major earnings, including Nvidia, may heavily influence the expiry outcome.

On Tuesday, Ether fell to $1,800, triggering $224 million in long liquidations over 48 hours. Derivatives data showed a 2.2x put-to-call volume premium and an 18% delta skew, while Ethereum's TVL slid to $51 billion and ETFs recorded $405 million in net outflows since Feb. 11, keeping downside risk elevated.

Bitcoin spent 18 days below $75,000 and retested $64,200 on Monday, as risk sentiment worsened around tariff policy and equities. Historical liquidity spikes, recovering mining economics, and a shift by large speculators to net long CME futures suggest buyers added exposure, with some seeing scope for a move back toward $75,000.

Bitcoin has moved between $65,900 and $70,500 over the past week, and a 4.3% push to $69,600 would liquidate more than $600 million in short futures. Derivatives funding remains soft after a Feb. 6 washout, while improving hashrate and the BIP-360 proposal may ease security concerns and support a run toward $70,000.