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Bitcoin holds below $81,000 with Trump-Xi talks on the horizon
Bitcoin held steady before President Donald Trump’s with his Chinese counterpart, Xi Jinping.
May 13, 2026, 11:14 a.m. 4 min read
What to know:
- Bitcoin and major cryptocurrencies are trading steadily ahead of President Donald Trump’s talks with China’s Xi Jinping, with gains concentrated in the largest tokens and implied volatility near year-to-date lows.
- Derivatives data show rising open interest and generally bullish positioning in altcoins like BNB, DOGE and ether, though negative short-term volume metrics for most tokens point to lingering caution beneath the surface.
- Confidence in decentralized finance is improving as the DeFi United initiative advances recovery from the Kelp DAO exploit, with key steps completed.
The Trump-Xi talks are likely to cover tariffs, rare earth supply chains, and the Middle East. Any positive outcome, even a symbolic one on paper, could improve overall market sentiment and support risk assets
Ether (ETH) added 1.3% since midnight to $2,300 after the Ethereum Foundation published “Clear Signing,” a new standard designed to stop users from unknowingly approving malicious crypto transactions.
Among altcoins, Injective blockchain’s INJ token surged as much as 24%, the most since Feb. 19, alongside 5% gains in Polkadot’s DOT and the TRUMP memecoin.
Derivatives Positioning
- BNB futures open interest (OI) rose to 6.15 million tokens, up over 5% in 24 hours and the highest since April 3. The move points to fresh capital inflows.
- ZEC’s OI growth is the biggest among the major cryptocurrencies. Its 24-hour cumulative volume delta (CVD) is also positive and the highest among majors.
- That’s also a sign of new money flowing into the market, with traders buying via market orders rather than passive limit orders, signaling strong bullish sentiment.
- Still, the BNB market doesn’t look overheated. Funding rates remain below an annualized 10%, a sign of healthy bullish conditions without excessive leverage buildup. Its market capitalization has increased to $92.2 billion, the highest since March 18, reflecting renewed investor interest.
- OI in DOGE has increased 5.75% to 15.38 billion tokens, with its price chart pointing to a bullish crossover of the widely tracked 50- and 100-day simple moving averages. The token traded 4% higher at 11 cents as of writing. The other key metrics display a BNB-like bullish setup, suggesting improving speculative demand.
- Another standout is ether (ETH), the second-largest token by market value. OI in ether futures topped 15 million ETH, nearing last July’s record 15.30 million.
- The increasing demand for leverage, coupled with the relentless tightening of Bollinger Bands, suggests scope for a volatility boom.
- OI in bitcoin has held largely unchanged near 740K BTC in the past 24 hours, indicating relatively stable positioning in bitcoin compared to altcoins.
- Broadly speaking, most tokens, except BNB, XRP and TRX, have negative 24-hour CVDs, meaning the altcoin market is dominated by sellers shorting via market orders rather than passive limit orders. That signals lingering caution beneath the broader market strength.
- While macro risks pile up in the form of high inflation and hardening bond yields across the advanced world, the market remains calm. That’s evident from the continued decline in bitcoin’s and ether’s 30-day implied volatility indices. Ether’s EVIV index hit fresh year-to-date lows below 55%, while BVIV remains pinned near 40%, levels last seen in late January.
- The subdued volatility environment suggests traders are not yet pricing in major near-term turbulence.
- In the options market on Deribit, higher-strike call options continue to dominate volume rankings. Calls represent a bullish bet on the underlying BTC.
- As for block flows, put spreads and straddles emerged as preferred strategies over the past 24 hours, indicating traders are positioning for both downside protection and a potential volatility expansion.
