Key Takeaways
- • Bitcoin rose about 0.8% to above $81,400 on Monday after dipping below $80,000 earlier in the week, with the rebound tied to a rally in Asian chip stocks, according to CoinDesk.
- • U.S. spot bitcoin ETFs took in $176 million on Tuesday, a second consecutive day of inflows, per Farside Investors.
- • Pepe jumped 9.4% after Arkham Intelligence linked wallets to Tron founder Justin Sun holding about $51 million of the token, making him the largest holder outside exchanges.
- • Derivatives data showed price gains came without much new leverage: crypto futures volume rose 7.5% to $163.2 billion while open interest rose only 1.3%, and CME FedWatch showed roughly a 92% probability of no rate change at the Fed decision.
Summary
Bitcoin traded above $81,400 on Monday, recovering from a drop below $80,000 earlier in the week, as a rally in Asian chip stocks spilled over into crypto markets. According to CoinDesk, South Korea's Kospi index jumped 6.6% and SK Hynix surged around 11% after reporting a sevenfold increase in profit, while Nasdaq-100 futures added 0.5%. Ether gained 0.9% and the CoinDesk Memecoin Index advanced 1.3%.
Flows into U.S. spot bitcoin ETFs totaled $176 million on Tuesday, according to Farside Investors, marking a second straight day of net inflows. The Federal Reserve was scheduled to announce its interest rate decision at 18:00 UTC, with CME's FedWatch tool implying about a 92% chance of no change. Traders were watching Fed Chair Kevin Wash's press conference for signals on whether any rate increases were under consideration. Alphabet and Microsoft were also set to report earnings after the market close.
The memecoin segment led altcoin gains. Pepe, the Ethereum-based frog-themed token, rose 9.4% to lead the CoinDesk 100 Index after Arkham Intelligence said wallets it links to Tron founder Justin Sun hold around $51 million of the token. Floki and dogecoin rose 3.4% and 1.9%, respectively. By contrast, AI-linked tokens lagged the rebound in AI equities for a second day, with Venice (VVV) falling 8.2%, Grass dropping 3.3% and Kite losing 2.4%. DeFi tokens also underperformed, with the CoinDesk DeFi Index rising just 0.6% against 0.9% for the CoinDesk 80. CoinMarketCap's Altcoin Season index rose to 60 from 57.
Derivatives data pointed to measured positioning rather than crowded leverage. Crypto futures volume rose 7.5% to $163.2 billion over 24 hours while open interest rose 1.3%, and liquidations climbed 38% to $183.6 million, with BTC and ETH accounting for over half. Funding rates were mildly positive at 0.0090% for BTC and 0.0079% for ETH. On Deribit, the one-week bitcoin put-call skew fell below 1% from nearly 10% a week earlier, though one-, three- and six-month skews still showed a pronounced bias toward puts.
Flows into U.S. spot bitcoin ETFs totaled $176 million on Tuesday, according to Farside Investors, marking a second straight day of net inflows. The Federal Reserve was scheduled to announce its interest rate decision at 18:00 UTC, with CME's FedWatch tool implying about a 92% chance of no change. Traders were watching Fed Chair Kevin Wash's press conference for signals on whether any rate increases were under consideration. Alphabet and Microsoft were also set to report earnings after the market close.
The memecoin segment led altcoin gains. Pepe, the Ethereum-based frog-themed token, rose 9.4% to lead the CoinDesk 100 Index after Arkham Intelligence said wallets it links to Tron founder Justin Sun hold around $51 million of the token. Floki and dogecoin rose 3.4% and 1.9%, respectively. By contrast, AI-linked tokens lagged the rebound in AI equities for a second day, with Venice (VVV) falling 8.2%, Grass dropping 3.3% and Kite losing 2.4%. DeFi tokens also underperformed, with the CoinDesk DeFi Index rising just 0.6% against 0.9% for the CoinDesk 80. CoinMarketCap's Altcoin Season index rose to 60 from 57.
Derivatives data pointed to measured positioning rather than crowded leverage. Crypto futures volume rose 7.5% to $163.2 billion over 24 hours while open interest rose 1.3%, and liquidations climbed 38% to $183.6 million, with BTC and ETH accounting for over half. Funding rates were mildly positive at 0.0090% for BTC and 0.0079% for ETH. On Deribit, the one-week bitcoin put-call skew fell below 1% from nearly 10% a week earlier, though one-, three- and six-month skews still showed a pronounced bias toward puts.
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