Bitcoin traders are still trying to push the price back above $90,000, however the market has struggled to hold recent gains. After briefly testing $89,000 on Friday, Bitcoin faced another rejection, a move that caught leveraged traders off guard and triggered more than $260 million in liquidations.
That turbulence came as BTC futures positioning thinned out. Aggregate open interest on major exchanges fell to $42 billion on Friday from $47 billion two weeks earlier, the lowest level in eight months, according to Coinglass. The drop points to a leverage washout rather than a wave of new bearish bets, since longs and shorts are always matched.
Some of the nervousness is tied to recent withdrawals from spot Bitcoin ETFs. A five-day outflow totalled $825 million, adding to concerns that the bullish momentum seen in October has faded amid global economic uncertainty. The outflow is still small relative to the roughly $116 billion in combined deposits, however it has weighed on sentiment.
Broader markets showed investors leaning defensive. Gold and silver hit new all-time highs on Friday as investors sought protection from rising United States debt. Demand for government-backed debt increased, pushing the US 10-year Treasury yield down to a three-week low of 4.12%. Uncertainty has also been fed by shifting signals around import tariffs. President Donald Trump’s administration said on Tuesday that duties on Chinese semiconductor imports were postponed until June 2027.
Derivatives pricing is giving a less alarmist read. Bitcoin’s monthly futures premium, often called the basis rate, helps track whether large players have turned bearish. In neutral conditions, futures usually trade at a 5% to 10% annualized premium. On Friday, the basis rate stood at 5%, unchanged from the prior week and above the sub-4% levels seen on Dec. 18 when Bitcoin traded below $85,000.
Options data is also pointing to steadier expectations. The 30-day delta skew, which tracks the relative cost of puts versus calls, tends to rise above 6% when traders pay up for downside protection. The latest readings signaled stabilizing sentiment.
Taken together, the fall in futures and options open interest, alongside about 1% net ETF outflows, does not on its own point to a sustained bear market. A retest of $85,000 remains possible, however bulls appear to be gradually regaining confidence even without a quick break above $90,000.
