- Bitcoin, Ethereum, and XRP face difficulties as retail investor demand declines:

Bitcoin experienced one of its strongest weeks in recent months, reaching a record high of $97,924 on Wednesday. However, this bullish trend, driven by optimism about the U.S. core inflation rate falling below expectations, paused temporarily, forcing Bitcoin to seek support at the $95,000 level.

Despite steady institutional demand through spot ETFs(, which reached a cumulative weekly inflow of $1.81 billion on Thursday, retail interest remains low.

Data from CoinGlass shows that the average open interest )OI( on the Bitcoin exchange was $63 billion on Friday, down from $64 billion on Thursday and $66 billion on Wednesday. This ongoing decline indicates a loss of confidence among investors in short-term positive Bitcoin outlooks, which could weaken the momentum needed to push prices higher.

Open interest in Bitcoin futures contracts | Source: CoinGlass

Ethereum also faces a continuous decline in futures demand on exchanges, as evidenced by the open interest )OI(, representing the notional value of outstanding futures contracts. The average open interest was $41.27 billion on Friday, down from $41.41 billion on Thursday.

Open interest in Ethereum futures contracts | Source: CoinGlass

Meanwhile, demand for XRP derivatives has steadily decreased, reaching $3.94 billion on Friday, down from $3.98 billion the previous day. The open interest peaked at $4.55 billion on January 8, coinciding with XRP's price rising to $2.42. Further declines in open interest could lead to lower prices.

Open interest in XRP futures contracts