Crypto Market in Zen Mode as Bitcoin Remains Stable at $70K Ahead of Halving

• Bitcoin is trading above $70K, while Ether was above $3600 on Monday.
• Bitcoin halving event keeps options volatility high while perpetual futures funding rates remain inflated.

Bitcoin BTC$85,300 and ether ETH$1,615 began the trading week fairly flat, as many major financial centers around the world remained closed for the long easter weekend.

At the time of writing, bitcoin was stable at $70,000, while ether was trading near $3600, according to data from CoinDesk Indices. The CoinDesk 20 (CD20), a measure of the largest and most liquid digital assets, was up 1.9%, trading at 2,750.

“BTC and ETH showed relatively calm movement last week compared to other weeks in March, with weekly realized volatility hitting below 50%,” Jun-Young Heo, a derivatives trader at Singapore-based Presto Labs, said in an email interview. “However, as the Bitcoin halving event is expected to happen around April 20, implied volatility of front-month options remains elevated above 75%.”

He also noted that funding rates remain inflated, with most of the large-cap perpetual futures in major exchanges recording 6bps to 8bps funding rates and global open interest for BTC and ETH perpetual futures hitting 35 billion dollars.

“The markets may return to a more volatile regime again,” he continued.

Meanwhile, QCP Capital wrote in a telegram note that bitcoin was rallying before the long weekend because of positive inflow on bitcoin ETFs to the tune of $243.5 million on March 27. Coinglass data shows that this inflow continued on March 28 with $182 million in additional inflow.