Bitcoin is holding steady just below a resistance line seen in early February, with opinions divided on the outlook.

According to blockchain media outlet Coindesk on April 9, bitcoin traded around $71,200 and ether at $2,185. Risk appetite has returned after a ceasefire between the United States and Iran, but the crypto market has not followed through with a clear uptrend. Bitcoin rose about 0.3 percent after midnight UTC, while ether stayed broadly flat. The market is watching whether this range-bound move becomes a springboard for further gains or a trap ahead of a decline.

Forecasts differed. Bloomberg's Mike McGlone saw a risk bitcoin could slide to $10,000 if it fails to regain $75,000. Fundstrat's Tom Lee, by contrast, argued on April 9 that a bottom has already formed. His fund holds $10.4 billion worth of ether.

In derivatives markets, funds flowed into bitcoin futures. Bitcoin futures open interest rose from 693,000 BTC over the weekend to 726,000 BTC, the highest level in a week. The increase over the past 24 hours also topped 1 percent. The 24-hour cumulative volume delta stayed positive for a second straight day, and perpetual futures funding rates also edged slightly above zero.

By contrast, open interest in ether, XRP and solana futures rose 1 to 2 percent, but their cumulative volume delta and funding rates were slightly negative. The cumulative volume delta for major meme coins such as dogecoin and shiba inu also stayed in negative territory.

Volatility is trending lower. Volatility indexes for bitcoin and ether kept falling, and 10x Research noted that ahead of Friday's inflation data, the market is pricing in moves of about 2.5 percent in either direction. On Deribit, put options remained favored for both bitcoin and ether, but the intensity eased from a week earlier. Over the past 24 hours, the contract with the biggest rise in open interest was a $80,000 bitcoin call option, followed by a $82,000 call option.

Altcoins showed strength in selective names. MANA and AERO each rose 6 percent, while DeFi tokens MORPHO and PENDLE gained 3.7 percent and 2.7 percent, respectively. Open interest in MANA rose 25 percent, pointing to an advance accompanied by leverage rather than spot buying alone.

On Coindesk indexes, CPUS and SCPXC rose 0.4 to 0.5 percent to show the strongest moves on the day, while CD100 was flat. The market is focused on whether bitcoin can break above $75,000 and then turn it into support.