Bitcoin price is stabilizing near $70,000 as declining derivatives leverage and falling retail inflows hint at a possible base forming in the market.

At press time, Bitcoin (BTC) was trading at $70,718, up 4.2% over the past 24 hours. The asset is now near the top of its recent weekly range thanks to the move.

Following February’s volatility, Bitcoin has shown signs of consolidation over the last seven days, trading between $65,962 and $73,669. The cryptocurrency is still 46% below its October 2025 all-time high of $127,080 despite the recent upswing. 

Alongside the price increase, market activity has increased. With a 49% rise and a 24-hour trading volume of $53.8 billion for BTC, traders appear to be returning to the market.

Derivatives data also shows rising activity. According to CoinGlass data, Bitcoin futures trading volume increased 13% to $76 billion, while open interest climbed 5.72% to $46 billion.

Despite the short-term increase, longer-term data show that leverage across exchanges has been trending lower.

Retail flows and leverage show cooling market conditions

A Mar. 10 report from CryptoQuant contributor Amr Taha points to a sharp decline in retail Bitcoin inflows to Binance over the past month.

The analysis tracks cumulative Bitcoin deposits to the exchange over 30 days, separating activity from smaller investors and large holders. According to the data, retail inflows to Binance dropped significantly between Feb. 6 and Mar. 10.

During that period, retail deposits fell from around $14.1 billion to roughly $6.3 billion, a drop of about $7.8 billion. The current level is the lowest recorded since mid-May 2024, suggesting smaller investors are sending fewer coins to exchanges.

Open interest across derivatives markets has also been declining. The report notes that several major exchanges have seen a reduction in futures positioning in recent weeks.

Bitcoin open interest on Binance was $3.45 billion on March 10, down from the $3.8 billion level noted on April 7, 2025. That earlier reading coincided with a period when Bitcoin formed a major market bottom.

According to Taha, widespread drops in open interest often signify a reduction in traders’ leverage. Once excessive speculation is removed from the market, periods of deleveraging can occasionally result in more stable price action.

Bitcoin price technical analysis

From a technical standpoint, Bitcoin is still recovering from the sharp decline seen in February. The price is still below the 20-day moving average, which is the midline of the Bollinger Bands. This level often acts as resistance when markets are trying to recover from a downtrend.

At the same time, the chart shows that Bitcoin is moving sideways between $67,000 and $71,000, indicating that the market may be establishing a base following the recent sell-off. Several recent candles have longer wicks and smaller bodies, which shows hesitancy among traders.

Volatility has also started to contract. Bollinger Bands are gradually narrowing, a pattern that comes before a more significant shift in either direction.

Momentum indicators show a slight improvement. The relative strength index is now hovering around 50, a neutral reading, having recovered from oversold levels near 20–30 during February’s decline. 

$66,000 to $67,000 continues to be the crucial support range for Bitcoin in the near future. Holding this level could help maintain the current consolidation structure.

On the upside, $71,000 to $72,000 stands as the next resistance area. A break above that range could signal stronger recovery momentum, while rejection there may keep Bitcoin trading sideways in the near term.

Ripple has announced plans to secure an Australian financial services license by acquiring a local payments firm in the country.

Ripple said it will obtain the AFSL license through the acquisition of BC Payments Australia Pty Ltd, a payments company linked to the European Banking Circle Group. A deal is still underway and is expected to close on April 1 after the standard closing process is finalized.

“Australia is a key market for Ripple,” Ripple’s APAC Managing Director Fiona Murray said in an accompanying statement, adding that it will help Ripple Payments “manage the full lifecycle of a transaction, from onboarding and compliance through funding, FX, liquidity management, and final payout, while integrating both traditional banking rails and digital assets.”

Ripple’s decision to pursue the license comes as Australia’s financial regulator has unveiled updated regulations for the country’s crypto sector.

Starting June 30, 2026, crypto firms operating in Australia would be required to obtain an Australian Financial Services License before they are allowed to offer certain financial services to local customers.

Over the past years, Ripple has expanded its global regulatory footprint by focusing on securing licenses across key markets around the world.

In 2025 alone, Ripple managed to secure payment licenses in Singapore, the UAE, and the UK. The company was also granted conditional approval for a national trust banking charter by the U.S. Office of the Comptroller of the Currency alongside a handful of other firms.

Securing these regulatory approvals has helped Ripple strengthen its push for broader institutional adoption of the XRP (XRP) ecosystem and its flagship stablecoin RLUSD.

As previously reported by crypto.news, Ripple became one of the world’s top most valuable private companies, with its valuation reaching roughly $50 billion.

Blockchain and crypto are technologies performing the same functions as existing financial infrastructure, so they shouldn’t be treated as separate asset classes when crafting legislation, according to the fintech chief of Australia’s securities regulator.

In a paper presented at the Melbourne Money & Finance Conference on Wednesday, Australian Securities and Investments Commission’s (ASIC’s) head of fintech, Rhys Bollen, said crypto should be regulated on “economic substance rather than technological form.”

Tokenized securities should fall within securities laws, and stablecoins should trigger payment services legislation, Bollen said, while noting that other elements of crypto may be subject to consumer protection laws.

Bollen’s approach contrasts with crypto-specific regulatory frameworks in other countries, such as the CLARITY Act in the US and the Markets in Crypto-Assets Regulation framework in Europe.

Bollen argued that the three main financial functions — capital allocation, payments and risk management — have evolved with technological advancements and that distributed ledger technologies, such as blockchain, shouldn’t be treated differently:

“Digital assets largely represent new technological instances of longstanding financial activities. While the mechanisms of issuance, transfer and record-keeping have changed, the underlying economic functions served by these instruments have not.”

“Regulatory systems have repeatedly adapted to technological change – from paper instruments to electronic records – without abandoning foundational principles such as consumer protection, market integrity and systemic stability,” Bollen added.

Australia isn’t crafting one big crypto bill

Australia is already starting to adopt this approach, with the main piece of crypto legislation, the Digital Asset Framework bill, seeking to merely amend parts of the Corporations Act, Bollen said.

“The Bill does not abandon the existing financial services framework. Instead, it introduces tailored amendments that integrate digital asset platforms into the established regulatory architecture.”

The Australian crypto market has also been given guidance through ASIC Information Sheet 225, which states that existing definitions of “financial product” and “financial service” under the Corporations Act can apply to digital assets.