Our weekly crypto derivatives analytics report delves into macro events; the current state of crypto and trading signals from spot trading volume; and futures, options and perpetual contracts.

Since hitting a local bottom on Mar 11, 2025, crypto asset prices have experienced a two-week rise, following a recovery above $87K for BTC and $2K for ETH. XRP remains stable, but BTC and ETH are still below their levels from the start of the year. SOL is also down for the year, despite reaching an all-time high (ATH) in January 2025 that coincided with the 

. While derivatives markets aren't bullish yet, they've reversed much of the bearish sentiment, although demand persists for puts on BTC and ETH.

Please check out the report’s highlights.

For most of this past week, perpetual open interest remained flat, reflecting a cautious risk-off sentiment across asset classes. This changed briefly with a partial spot recovery that allowed BTC to reach $88K (a two-week high), which led to slight increases in perp open interest and trade volume primarily driven by BTC. However, trade volumes are still significantly lower than at the start of the month when US president Donald Trump proposed a crypto strategic reserve for the big four tokens.

Negative funding rates point to bearish sentiment

Despite a week of lower realized volatility and positive performance among major crypto assets, funding rates for BTC and ETH contracts have remained mostly negative, indicating that short positions are paying long positions. This reflects a bearish sentiment not present in large-cap altcoins, whose funding rates have fluctuated between positive and negative without a clear directional trend.

Implied volatility levels have dropped by 3–5 points from last week, with 30-day options trading at their lowest level since the year's start. Realized volatility is nearing the 30% low established in late February. As is typical during periods of low volatility, options market activity has decreased, with open interest remaining low and balanced between puts and calls despite about $40M in weekly expirations.

Advanced

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Bybit X Block Scholes crypto derivatives analytics report (Mar 27, 2025): Cautious sentiment prevails despite price recovery

Learn about Mubarak (MUBARAK), the BNB Chain meme coin fueled by community hype and speculation over potential listings.

Mubarak (MUBARAK) is a community-driven meme coin on 

 that’s quickly gaining popularity, due to strategic community engagement and cultural branding targeted toward Middle Eastern investors. This guide explores Mubarak’s unique features, tokenomics, recent market performance and trading options.

Mubarak (MUBARAK) is a community-driven meme cryptocurrency built on BNB Chain. It was launched on the 

 Inspired by an Abu Dhabi company’s $2 billion investment in Binance, MUBARAK — which means “blessed” in Arabic — carries a unique appeal for Middle Eastern crypto markets. This targeted cultural approach distinguishes MUBARAK from other 

, giving it particular appeal in regions with growing crypto enthusiasm.

Shortly after the coin’s launch, its community quickly took control over it, guided prominently by the influential persona 

 on social media platform X. Users can also create Mubarak-themed avatars on the website, giving influential figures a dash of Middle-Eastern charm — from CZ and Portuguese soccer star Cristiano Ronaldo to beloved meme coin mascots 

. The meme coin quickly attracted attention, due to its engaging branding and strategic community management, amassing a total of 12,400 followers in just two weeks. 

What’s the source of MUBARAK’s popularity? 

MUBARAK stands out from typical meme coins, thanks to several major Binance-related events accelerating its market visibility. 

On Mar 12, 2025, Abu Dhabi investment company MGX made history by investing $2 billion in Binance. This represented the largest single investment in the whole of cryptocurrency history, signaling strong confidence in the industry. It was also a pivotal moment that firmly established the Middle East as a key player in the crypto space. Right after MGX’s mind-blowing investment, CZ tweeted several Mubarak-related posts, leading to the eventual birth of MUBARAK the very next day.

Binance Alpha, a dedicated platform for emerging and promising BNB Chain tokens, promptly listed MUBARAK on Mar 15, 2025, further validating the meme coin's potential. This integration enhanced MUBARAK's credibility, trust and market exposure, attracting a broader investor base beyond that of typical meme coin enthusiasts.

The second significant event that led to the greatest boost in its price and market cap took place when CZ personally bought 1 BNB worth of MUBARAK (around $600 at the time of purchase) on Mar 17, 2025. Both its listing and CZ’s purchase of the coin within a matter of two days pushed the coin to an all-time high (ATH) of $0.21 by Mar 18, 2025. While MUBARAK rapidly declined from its ATH to $0.13 just one day later, CZ’s cryptic endorsement for the coin briefly ignited more community excitement. 

On Mar 19, 2025, CZ sparked speculation in the Mubarak community by changing his X profile picture to feature himself wearing traditional Arab attire. The crypto community widely interpreted CZ’s subtle gesture as a potential endorsement or “hint” toward future Binance involvement. This led to a rapid increase in Mubarak's price (over 30%) within the same day as it reached $0.165 and briefly touched a $166 million market cap.

Mubarak’s straightforward and transparent tokenomics (below) are designed to foster investor confidence and community engagement.

Mubarak's simple token structure and availability on a reputable 

 (DEX) enhance accessibility, providing investors easy entry and liquidity options without relying solely on 

As of Mar 28, 2025, MUBARAK is priced at $0.096, reflecting a 55.3% decrease from its ATH of $0.21 on Mar 18, 2025, and a 237% increase from its all-time low (ATL) of $0.028 on Mar 16, 2025. It has a current market cap of $95 million and a 24-hour trading volume of $306 million.

MUBARAK’s price surged over 480% from the time of its launch, primarily due to strategic visibility from its Binance Alpha integration, speculative interest following CZ’s interactions and growing enthusiasm for meme coins in the crypto market. At its peak, MUBARAK achieved a market cap of approximately $166 million, reflecting significant investor confidence and demand.

Mubarak (MUBARAK) has quickly established itself as an influential meme coin in the crypto market, boosted significantly by strategic integrations like Binance Alpha, and speculative attention fueled by former Binance CEO Changpeng Zhao’s interactions. Its unique cultural branding, particularly appealing to Middle Eastern crypto circles, has further amplified its market visibility and adoption. However, investors must approach meme coins with caution due to these assets’ speculative nature, which often leads to considerable volatility and potential risks.

If you're interested in participating in MUBARAK’s growth story, you can trade 

, where you can participate in high-risk/high-reward Perpetual contract trading with up to 12.5x leverage.

Beginner

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Mubarak (MUBARAK): Arabic-themed BNB Chain meme coin

Margin Staked SOL is a Bybit product that allows you to earn SOL staking rewards and utilize leverage of up to 2x to amplify your earnings.

 can be a great way to earn yield in crypto, and 

 (SOL) is one of the most popular blockchain platforms for doing so. However, setting up and running a Solana validator node is technically complex. Additionally, financial requirements for Solana validators are high. While the official minimum stake is just 0.01 SOL (around $1.33), in reality, a typical Solana validator needs 

 staked just to break even — an investment of about $6.66 million (as of Mar 28, 2025).

Most crypto users who would like to benefit from staking rewards on Solana simply don’t have that kind of capital. And many don’t want the hassle of setting up a full validator node.

Back in September 2024, Bybit introduced 

 (LST) that lets you earn Solana staking rewards with minimal investment, and no need to manage a validator node.

bbSOL has been a major success, allowing Bybit users to earn staking rewards without technical or financial barriers. Now, Bybit is taking it a step further with Margin Staked SOL — a new Solana staking product that utilizes bbSOL and offers leveraged borrowing to amplify the rewards.

 is a Bybit leveraged liquid staking product that’s designed to help you earn Solana staking rewards with minimal hassle.

 Using it, you can invest your SOL and Bybit will allocate the funds to Solana blockchain validators, allowing you to earn staking rewards. When you stake through Margin Staked SOL, you receive bbSOL, an LST that serves as a deposit certificate and accrues staking rewards. Unlike standard bbSOL staking, Margin Staked SOL allows you to use 

For example, if you have 100 SOL and opt for 2x leverage, the total amount committed to Solana staking will be 300 SOL — your 100 SOL principal plus the borrowed 200 SOL. You’ll pay interest (which is variable and calculated hourly) on the borrowed amount.

Bybit allocates your total staking amount through 

 (CLOUD), Solana's leading liquid staking solution. Sanctum's 

 distributes staked funds across multiple validators to optimize the total yield.

The key advantage of Margin Staked SOL is its capacity to amplify staking rewards through leverage. In addition, you don't need to handle the technical complexities of running a Solana validator. The minimum investment required is just 0.5 SOL (around $70), drastically lower than the millions of dollars needed to run a profitable validator node in Solana's highly competitive staking ecosystem.

Upon committing your funds to Margin Staked SOL, you’ll receive the bbSOL LST. All staking rewards accrue in this asset, and you can redeem your investment at any time by exchanging bbSOL for your original SOL. After deducting interest on the borrowed funds, you’ll receive your SOL, along with all the accrued rewards. bbSOL accumulates rewards every time a Solana epoch is completed, typically taking 2–3 days.

As an LST, bbSOL normally allows you to keep your original SOL locked while using the liquid token across the Solana 

 (DeFi) ecosystem, and within Bybit products like On-Chain Earn, Bybit Savings and Crypto Loans. However, when bbSOL is issued via Margin Staked SOL, it must remain locked, and cannot be used in other Bybit or DeFi products. It acts solely as your deposit confirmation, and continues accruing rewards until you withdraw from Solana staking via Margin Staked SOL.

Interest on the borrowed funds within Margin Staked SOL is calculated hourly, with any duration under one hour rounded up to a full hour. The interest rate is variable, and updates every hour. You can check the current rate in your account under 

Rewards in Margin Staked SOL aren’t distributed immediately. Instead, they accumulate in your bbSOL, and can be redeemed at any time alongside your SOL principal investment. Bybit provides two redemption options for bbSOL:

If your PnL position declines beyond a certain level during staking, Bybit will send you a margin call notification via email, prompting you to either redeem your investment or contribute more SOL. If your PnL drops even further, an automatic stop-loss transaction will be triggered to redeem your funds and cover the loan and accrued interest. These measures are designed to protect you from unexpected losses.

Besides Margin Staked SOL, Bybit also offers another product for those who would like to earn yields from hassle-free decentralized staking: 

. There are three key differences between the two products: 

1) Unlike On-Chain Earn, Margin Staked SOL allows you to use leverage, amplifying your potential returns and risks. 

2) On-Chain Earn creates opportunities for staking on several blockchains, while Margin Staked SOL is a solution that’s designed exclusively for Solana staking.

3) Staked assets in On-Chain Earn can be withdrawn and utilized in their respective blockchain ecosystems, whereas the bbSOL from Margin Staked SOL is locked solely for yield generation, and cannot be used elsewhere. 

How to get started with Margin Staked SOL

Here’s how to get started with staking your SOL.

: In your account’s navigation pane, click on 

: On the left side, you’ll see the APR chart for the product, containing information on the Net APR; the trend over the past 1,7 or 30 days; and the highest and lowest Net APRs over a selected time period.

: On the right side, you can set options for your Margin Staked SOL (the leverage ratio and the SOL amount to transfer from your main account). You’ll see the amount of automatically calculated bbSOL you’ll receive, total borrowed amount and estimated daily yield.

to view a detailed breakdown of your bbSOL holdings. Then, click on either

: On the confirmation pop-up window, enter the amount of bbSOL you wish to redeem, or click on 

to redeem your full balance. Review the details, then click on

 to proceed, depending upon your earlier choice. 

to finalize your redemption on the redemption confirmation pop-up. Your redeemed SOL will be sent to your 

Until Apr 4, 2025, 10AM UTC, you can also take advantage of Bybit’s 

 campaign that’s dedicated to the Margin Staked SOL product. This campaign lets you earn up to 10 Lucky Draw tickets, each guaranteeing at least a 1 USDT 

, with a chance to win up to 100 USDT. In order to participate in the campaign, you must register for the event and complete a series of tasks as follows:

Bybit’s Margin Staked SOL allows you to earn Solana staking rewards without the hassle of setting up and running a validator node — all via your account’s easy-to-use interface. The leverage option is also a great way to multiply your rewards. Moreover, the minimum investment is minuscule, especially compared to running a Solana validator, and there are two easy redemption options — and all of these benefits without needing to interact with the underlying Solana blockchain!

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Bybit Margin Staked SOL: Unlock higher yields with less effort

Animoca Brands has partnered with Soneium, Sony’s Ethereum Layer 2 blockchain, to develop Moca Network’s identity layer and launch anime initiatives on Soneium.

The S&P 500 fell 0.33% as tariffs and inflation concerns weighed on markets, with energy, tech, and communication sectors leading losses. Gold hit a record $3,059 as Trump’s tariffs fueled trade war fears, boosting safe-haven demand. The Coindesk Indices, which tracks the broader crypto market, are down by 1.01%, with Bitcoin up by 0.55% and Ether down by 0.18% in the past 24 hours. Trade these markets and more with up to 500x leverage on Bybit MT5 using this 

Today's top performer is CARV, up 9.2%, as it expands globally and redefines data ownership.

CARV (CARV), founded in 2022, is a modular data layer empowering users to control their data, enhancing privacy for gaming and AI systems through its CARV Protocol and ecosystem platforms. 

, advancing AI, gaming, and data ownership with its SVM Chain, which ensures privacy, scalability, and interoperability between Ethereum and Solana. With listings on Tokocrypto and Mercado Bitcoin, CARV is targeting Southeast Asia and Latin America, where users can better control and monetize their data. The $CARV token powers governance, gas fees, and incentives, fostering a user-owned data economy. Strategic partnerships with Kite AI and ARPA enhance AI intelligence, verifiable randomness, and blockchain security.

Check out the latest prices, charts, and data of 

, Sony’s Ethereum Layer 2 blockchain, to develop Moca Network’s identity layer and launch anime initiatives on Soneium. Moca Network’s AIR SDK will integrate into Soneium, enabling decentralized identity (DID) and reputation features, starting with San FranTokyo’s Anime ID. This collaboration aims to onboard anime fans to blockchain-powered experiences and enhance engagement across anime, gaming, and Web3. Sony’s Soneium, developed by Sony Block Solutions Labs and Startale Group, seeks to merge creativity and technology, while Animoca Brands’ partnership strengthens the digital identity infrastructure for an interconnected Web3 ecosystem.

Yesterday, BTC spot ETFs saw $85M in inflows, all from non-GBTC funds.

, allowing users to earn Fragments through Galxe and Zealy quests, potentially qualifying for an airdrop. Participants must complete quests, connect wallets, and use a referral code. Points update weekly, and the program may be limited in duration.

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Animoca Brands and Sony’s Soneium partner to enhance digital identity and anime experiences in Web3

Bybit Learn

Blockchain

Wonder how decentralized your favorite blockchain is? Make sure to use the Nakamoto coefficient as a way to gauge its degree of decentralization.

If you're interested in blockchain decentralization, you've probably come across a few discussions on the Nakamoto coefficient. This concept might sound very complex, but once you understand it, it's quite simple. Our guide will tell you everything you need to know about the Nakamoto coefficient so you can use it in your financial decisions.

The Nakamoto coefficient measures decentralization and represents the minimum number of nodes required to disrupt the blockchain's network. A high Nakamoto coefficient means that a blockchain is more decentralized.

The Nakamoto coefficient was first formally described in 2017 by former Coinbase CTO Balaji Srinivasan. This measurement is named after Satoshi Nakamoto, the presumed founder of Bitcoin. However, the Nakamoto coefficient isn’t a Bitcoin-only measurement. Instead, a Nakamoto coefficient can be used for analyzing a variety of blockchains.

Srinivasan's initial plan was to find a quantitative way of determining exactly how decentralized any system was. To calculate this, he proposed a method that combined the

. These measurements are generally used to look at inequality and non-uniformity within an economic population, but Srinivasan had the revolutionary idea of applying them to blockchain decentralization concepts. The Nakamoto coefficient is created by combining these inequality measurements with blockchain subsystem analysis.

The Nakamoto score considers how many subsystems a blockchain has, and how many entities you would have to compromise before gaining control of each subsystem. Simply put, a Nakamoto score describes the minimum amount of effort it would take to disrupt any given blockchain. A high coefficient means that a blockchain is harder to disrupt, because it’s more decentralized. Meanwhile, a low coefficient means that a system is heavily centralized, and has a high risk of disruption.

Calculating a Blockchain’s Nakamoto Coefficient

Calculating a Nakamoto coefficient is a little more complicated than just plugging basic numbers into a simple formula. The formal definition of a Nakamoto measurement is the minimum number of entities in a given subsystem that can add up their amounts of proportionate control to take control of the subsystem. There are several different techniques you may need to use when calculating this coefficient. You'll need to select your Nakamoto coefficient formulas based on the sort of situation you want to analyze.

First of all, you need to determine the minimum threshold for takeover. How much of any subsystem is needed in order to sway it? The standard number is 51%. However, the reality is that not all blockchains operate on a system where a simple majority gains control. Some systems might require something like 60% or 75% of the network to be in agreement about altering the system. Unless a score says otherwise, you can assume the Nakamoto coefficient formula uses 51% as its minimum threshold.

Next, you have to consider the ways in which each type of blockchain subsystem can be compromised.

 that any blockchain can be divided into six individual subsystems: Mining, clients, developers, exchanges, nodes and owners. Each one of these subsystems has its own statistical data set you need to consider.

Once you have this individualized information plotted as a Lorenz curve on a graph, you can identify the number of entities it would take to reach a minimum threshold percentage for system disruption. You'll need to find the minimum number of entities whose proportionate control adds up to 51%, or whatever other disruption percentage you set. This number is the Nakamoto coefficient for blockchain decentralization.

We know the Nakamoto coefficient formula can sound a little complicated, so let's take a look at a real-world example to make things simpler. For example, when considering the Nakamoto score for Ethereum dev decentralization, you would start by looking up the number of engineers who have made commits. (

 shows the total number of commits and the number of commits per engineer.) By plotting the number of commits per engineer on a Lorenz curve, if you can see that two engineers alone have made over 51% of all commits, the Nakamoto score for Ethereum devs would be two. This would mean that Ethereum development is heavily centralized.

As you can see, Nakamoto coefficients are a fairly unique concept in blockchain analysis. Compared to other measurements, these coefficients have some very specific pros and cons.

Using the Nakamoto score comes with many helpful perks.

Despite its many benefits, this coefficient does have some downsides.

Nakamoto Coefficient Among Popular Blockchains

So how do popular blockchains measure up? Here are some revealing things to know about the measurements for some well-known blockchains.

 tends to have the highest Nakamoto score. Its measurements — e.g., for developer, owner and validator — are significantly higher than for most other blockchains. This makes Bitcoin one of the most decentralized blockchains overall. For example, Bitcoin has 14,409 validators and scores a

, while most blockchains score lower than 15.

 was actually one of the first cryptos to popularize the idea of the Nakamoto coefficient. The measurement was brought up frequently by users, who claimed the blockchain was reasonably centralized. If you look at the total number of validators, Solana does have a decent Nakamoto coefficient of 19. It scores particularly well at things like mining pools. However, when you consider measurements for nodes and owners, Solana has fairly poor scores for blockchain decentralization.

 tends to rank consistently high across multiple Nakamoto coefficient measures. It has a score of 26 for the total number of validators, and its various subsystems get high scores as well. This comes as no surprise to supporters of Avalanche. From the start, this blockchain's priority has been decentralization. As Nakamoto score analysis shows, Avalanche is the most decentralized 

 is tricky enough to require its own separate article. Ethereum has such a large network size that its total number of validators cannot be determined. However, some blockchain experts have managed to look at Nakamoto scores for smaller subsystems of Ethereum. When it comes to things like developer decentralization and owner decentralization, Ethereum tends to have low-to-moderate scores. However, it does excel at providing a decentralized node network. Ethereum actually scores higher than Bitcoin when you consider node distribution.

The Nakamoto coefficient is certainly one of the most useful methods for measuring blockchain decentralization. Most other measurements just determine whether a blockchain is either centralized or decentralized. Meanwhile, the Nakamoto coefficient shows that blockchain decentralization is on a continuum. It can determine precisely how decentralized any given chain is. Furthermore, it can help to identify a blockchain's strengths and weaknesses so that you can more easily find decentralized blockchains.

The Nakamoto coefficient can be handy, but it does have some faults. To get the most out of this measurement, you need to take the time to really analyze it. You can't simply read that "Blockchain A has a higher Nakamoto coefficient than Blockchain B" and automatically assume that Blockchain A is therefore more decentralized. A lot of different factors go into any given Nakamoto score.

To work with the Nakamoto measurement, you need to take a close look at which blockchain subsystem it’s evaluating. Keep in mind that there are multiple ways in which any blockchain can be decentralized. Even if a blockchain scores well for a specific type of decentralization, another one of its more important systems might be centralized. You also need to take the time to discover what data set was being used. Some Nakamoto scores are calculated over short periods of time, or with a very broad set of users, rendering these blockchain decentralization scores less reliable.

The Nakamoto coefficient is very helpful as long as you take the time to analyze the data behind any given Nakamoto score. By using a Nakamoto score to analyze subsystems, you can easily rank various blockchains based on their level of centralization. This makes the Nakamoto coefficient one of the most useful tools for determining blockchain decentralization.

Nakamoto Coefficient: An Accurate Indicator for Blockchain Decentralization?

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