Crypto Defies Equity Weakness as Altcoin Optimism Builds Into the Weekend

Bitcoin rose 2% to $64,400 on Friday, retesting a level it failed to break on Monday, while ether (ETH) gained 2.6% to $1,790 and altcoins including Zcash (ZEC) and aave climbed about 5%. Crypto diverged from U.S. equities, with S&P 500 and Nasdaq 100 futures down 0.1% and 0.4%, according to CoinDesk, as derivatives data showed 24-hour volume fell 7% to $140 billion while open interest rose 3% to $110.52 billion. BTC futures OI increased from 262K to 272K, while implied volatility gauges such as BVIV slid to 38.5, the lowest since June 6.