The price of Bitcoin is showing signs of weakness, potentially forming another lower high in a bearish trend that has persisted since October. Despite a recent rally in major stock indices, Bitcoin has dropped 7% in the last two weeks, trading at approximately $76,600 on Tuesday.
Ether has experienced even greater declines, falling over 10% during the same period and currently priced at $2,098. This places it firmly within a trading range established earlier this year, with little indication of a rebound.
In contrast, tokens associated with artificial intelligence have performed well, with the CoinDesk Computing Select Index rising by 1.9%. This index, which includes notable AI tokens like RENDER and FET, has outperformed the broader cryptocurrency market, while the DeFi Select Index also saw a gain of 1.3%.
Privacy tokens, however, are struggling. Zcash (ZEC), Monero (XMR), and Dash (DASH) have all recorded losses, with ZEC down nearly 7% since midnight UTC.
The broader crypto futures market is showing signs of stagnation, with trading volume decreasing by 10% to $130 billion in the last 24 hours. Notional open interest remains steady around $126 billion, while liquidations have dropped by 21% to $126 million, indicating a lack of significant market activity following the extended U.S. holiday weekend.
In terms of derivatives positioning, NEAR has seen a remarkable increase, rising 58% in the week ending May 24 and gaining an additional 14% to reach $2.82. This surge is attributed to recent upgrades in its technology, which include enhancements in scaling and privacy features.
Conversely, Bitcoin’s open interest has decreased from 793,000 BTC earlier this month to 711,000 BTC. Ethereum’s open interest hovers just below record levels near 15 million ETH, while both Bitcoin and Ethereum’s 30-day implied volatility indexes are trending downward, suggesting a lack of panic in the options market.
On the options front, the most traded puts for Bitcoin are at strike prices ranging from $70,000 to $76,000, reflecting bearish sentiment among traders. Meanwhile, the CoinDesk Computing Select Index continues to attract attention, with its performance indicating that investors are gravitating towards more speculative assets as they await clearer signals from Bitcoin and Ether.
Overall, Bitcoin’s current trajectory raises concerns about its ability to break through key resistance levels around $77,000, particularly with significant options expirations approaching.
Bitcoin's price struggles continue as it risks forming another lower high, while Ether faces even steeper declines. Despite this, AI tokens show resilience, outperforming the broader market amid mixed signals in the crypto futures landscape.