Bitcoin and Ether Gain Ground as Investors Return to Crypto’s Biggest Assets

The two largest cryptocurrencies are the only members of the CoinDesk 20 index currently trading in positive territory, as investors appear to be moving away from smaller altcoins.

Bitcoin has gained about 0.9% over the past 24 hours, rising to around $64,700, while the broader CoinDesk 20 (CD20) index has increased only 0.16%. The strength seen across equity markets, with major indexes reaching record levels, has had little impact on the wider crypto market.

Crypto investors appear to be favoring the perceived stability of larger assets, with bitcoin and ether remaining the only CD20 constituents showing gains. Zaheer Ebtikar, chief strategy officer at crypto neobank Plasma, said altcoins are struggling because they lack strong support from sustained bitcoin momentum.

Ebtikar noted that altcoin open interest has dropped roughly 15% over the past month, while bitcoin has climbed around 8%. Meanwhile, CoinMarketCap’s Altcoin Season Index declined one point from Wednesday to 42 out of 100.

“Bitcoin has become integrated into traditional financial markets through ETFs, basis trading, institutional hedging and collateral use, meaning demand does not necessarily depend on price rallies. Most altcoins, however, have not reached that stage yet,” Ebtikar said.

According to Ebtikar, the gap between bitcoin and altcoins exists because many crypto projects have failed to establish clear mechanisms for generating token value, making it harder for investors to justify holding those assets during market downturns.

Market weakness spreads to tech stocks

Technology stocks also showed signs of weakness, with the Nasdaq 100 declining while the S&P 500 and Dow Jones Industrial Average moved higher. The move followed SpaceX’s first earnings report since going public in June.

Investors reacted negatively to the company’s aggressive AI-related capital spending plans, sending shares down 13% before the market close. The AI investment theme has often been cited as one reason capital has shifted away from crypto markets, and a reversal in that trend could potentially revive interest in digital assets.

Derivatives market positioning

Bitcoin futures show improving sentiment, but durability remains uncertain:
The long-short taker volume ratio in crypto futures turned positive for the first time in at least a week, with long positions accounting for nearly 52% of activity. Takers are traders who execute orders directly against available liquidity in the order book.

Bitcoin futures open interest increased to approximately 770,000 BTC. However, similar increases since early June have often been short-lived, with open interest falling back toward 740,000 BTC or lower shortly afterward. A sustained increase would signal stronger investor confidence and renewed willingness to use leverage. Other indicators, including annualized perpetual funding rates and 24-hour open interest-adjusted cumulative volume delta (CVD), remain positive for BTC and support a bullish outlook.

XRP open interest rises as price declines:
XRP futures open interest increased 5% over the past 24 hours to 2.23 billion tokens, while the token price dropped to $1.04, its lowest level since early July. Rising open interest alongside falling prices is often viewed as a sign of continued market weakness.

This pattern is reinforced by negative perpetual funding rates and XRP’s weak open interest-adjusted CVD, which ranks among the most negative of major cryptocurrencies, second only to XLM. The data suggests some traders are positioning for further declines.

Ethereum remains subdued while SOL leverage declines:
Ether futures open interest remains relatively flat below 14 million ETH, showing little change in either accumulation or position reduction. Solana, meanwhile, has seen further leverage unwind, with futures open interest falling to 60.81 million tokens after reaching above 76.5 million on June 24.

Stock-linked perpetual contracts gain traction:
Some of the most actively traded perpetual futures contracts over the past day were linked to equities, including SNK, SPCX and SKYHYNIX. These contracts ranked alongside major crypto assets such as bitcoin and ether, highlighting continued demand for traditional market exposure through crypto-based trading products.

Major cryptocurrencies show mixed CVD signals:
Large-cap tokens are showing divided market sentiment. Bitcoin and ether recorded positive 24-hour CVD figures, suggesting buyers are using aggressive market orders. Meanwhile, assets including SUI, XLM, DOGE, AVAX and XRP showed negative CVD, indicating weaker buying pressure.

Bitcoin and ether volatility remains stable:
Bitcoin’s implied volatility has remained unchanged since Wednesday, with the BVIV index holding near 36%, a level that has historically moved back toward its average. Ether’s implied volatility index has shown a similar pattern.

Options traders increase bullish positions:
Data from Deribit options markets shows growing demand for bitcoin calls at strike prices significantly above current levels, including $96,000 and $80,000 contracts. For ether, the $2,000 call option was the most actively traded contract over the past 24 hours.

Token spotlight: NEAR faces AI utility test

NEAR traded at $1.68 on Thursday, down 1.8% over 24 hours after retreating from an intraday peak of $1.73. The token currently has a market capitalization of about $2.19 billion, but its price has not reflected the network’s push into AI computing.

NEAR recently introduced an AI-compute staking system that allows users to lock up tokens to help provide computing resources for artificial intelligence applications. The model aims to connect token demand with actual computing usage rather than governance or speculation.

However, Leo Fan, CEO of Cysic, warned that the key question is whether real demand exists for the service.

He said that stake-to-compute models can give tokens stronger economic utility, but early adoption is often driven by incentives, with developers participating mainly for rewards rather than genuine demand for computing power.

Fan said investors should monitor three key factors: actual utilization of staked computing resources, workload demand, and whether developers continue paying for services after incentives decline.

If AI developers maintain demand after subsidies disappear, the model could prove sustainable. If activity drops sharply once rewards end, it would suggest adoption was mainly incentive-driven.

The same test applies to other AI-focused crypto projects. Linking tokens to computing resources is one of the clearer attempts to move beyond speculation-based utility, but long-term success will depend on whether real users need and pay for the underlying computing power. NEAR may become an important case study for the broader AI-crypto sector.

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