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.

Options data from laevitas.ch show two‑month BTC puts priced 13% above comparable calls on Thursday, signaling a defensive stance. Laevitas also tracked neutral‑to‑bearish strategies dominating Deribit in the past 48 hours, while Farside Investors reports $910 million in U.S.-listed spot ETF outflows since Feb. 11. BTC was rejected near $71,000 on Sunday yet held above $66,000 through the week.

Solana's SOL is hovering near a fragile $78 area after failing to reclaim $89 over the past two weeks and marking a $67.60 low on Feb. 6. Futures positioning has thinned, with open interest down 75% from a $13.5 billion peak and bears paying about 20% annualized to keep shorts open. Onchain, weekly dApp revenue fell to $22.8 million, the lowest since October 2024.

Ether has struggled to reclaim $2,500 since Jan. 31, but several institutional signals could improve sentiment. According to US Securities and Exchange Commission filings on Monday, Harvard's endowment added a $87 million position in BlackRock's iShares Ethereum Trust as BlackRock updated its Staked Ethereum ETF to retain 18% of rewards with a 0.25% expense ratio. Ethereum also leads a RWA market that has surpassed $20 billion.

Ether is holding near $2,000 after failing to stay above $2,150 since Feb. 5, with sentiment weakened by $242 million in ETF outflows between Wednesday and Thursday. On Friday, the U.S. 2‑year Treasury yield fell to 3.42% and ETH options skew reached 10%, underscoring persistent caution among traders.

Bitcoin futures open interest has retreated to $34 billion, the lowest level since November 2024, while BTC price struggles to hold above $72,000. At the same time, weak US labor data and a 22% options skew toward puts highlight growing caution, even as gold and the S&P 500 remain relatively robust.