Bitcoin (BTC) Mixes Signals; NEAR Layer 1 Blockchain's Token (NEAR) Spikes 20%

Cryptocurrencies were mixed Friday, although selling pressure from earlier in the week appeared to be gaining steam.

Crypto markets saw selling pressure build on Friday, following a week of relative calm as bitcoin (BTC) failed to break above $44,000 during the New York trading day.

After a 7% dip in BTC over the past week, traders appear to be uncertain about the next move, as alternative cryptos (altcoins) have fallen in and out of favor.

“The S&P 500 was roughly flat on Friday, while traditional safe havens such as gold and the U.S. dollar traded higher. The 10-year Treasury yield reached a new three-year high at 2.7% as investors reduced their exposure to bonds amid rising inflation and higher interest rates.”

Bitcoin, ether and gold prices are taken at approximately 4pm New York time. Bitcoin is the CoinDesk Bitcoin Price Index (XBX); Ether is the CoinDesk Ether Price Index (ETX); Gold is the COMEX spot price. Information about CoinDesk Indices can be found at coindesk.com/indices.

Relative bitcoin futures open interest has declined over the past week, which suggests that spot traders were largely responsible for BTC's 30% rise from its Jan. 24 low around $33,000.

However, participation in the bitcoin futures market has declined since peak levels in November of last year, which preceded a 50% drop in BTC's price. Still, the current level of open interest is higher than its previous range between May and September of 2021.

Analysts also pointed to a reduction in leverage among bitcoin futures traders, which indicates lower conviction behind the latest price recovery.

Further, BTC's annualized rolling three-month basis, or the relative difference between the price of the future contract and the spot price, has declined across major exchanges over the past two weeks. That indicates uncertainty among traders about the future price of bitcoin.

Top altcoin gainers

The layer 1 blockchain Near's native crypto NEAR rose by as much as 20% over the past 24 hours. WAVES and XRP were both down by 3% over the same period.

A broader measure of crypto market health showed that most digital assets in the CoinDesk 20 ended the day lower.

The largest cryptocurrency by market capitalization, bitcoin, was trading lower by 1.63% at $42,775, according to the CoinDesk Bitcoin Price Index (XBX). BTC's price range over the past 24 hours was $41,833 to $43,477.

Notably, bitcoin dropped by as much as 7% over the past week, trading lower by 1.6% at press time.

Ether, the second-largest cryptocurrency by market capitalization, was trading higher by 0.49% at $3,243, according to the CoinDesk Ether Price Index (ETX). Ether's price range over the past 24 hours was $3,183 to $3,303.

The S&P 500 daily close was up by 0.04% at 4,489, while the Nasdaq Composite closed down 0.26% at 14,084. The Dow Jones Industrial Average closed up 0.1% at 35,294.

Gold was trading at $1,948 per troy ounce, up 0.73%, while the U.S. dollar index rose by 0.26%. The 10-year Treasury yield daily close was at 2.71%, according to CNBC.