The two biggest cryptocurrencies are the only assets among the CoinDesk 20 index showing gains, as investors appear to be shifting toward established tokens while interest in altcoins weakens.
Bitcoin has climbed about 0.9% over the past 24 hours to around $64,700, while the wider CoinDesk 20 (CD20) index has advanced just 0.16%. Despite major equity indexes reaching record highs, the strength in traditional markets has not translated into broader crypto momentum.
Investors seem to be favoring the relative stability of bitcoin and ether, which remain the only CD20 components in positive territory. Zaheer Ebtikar, chief strategy officer at crypto-focused neobank Plasma, said many altcoins are struggling because they lack strong momentum from bitcoin’s performance.
Ebtikar said altcoin open interest has declined approximately 15% over the past month, while bitcoin has gained nearly 8%. CoinMarketCap’s Altcoin Season Index also slipped to 42 out of 100, down one point from the previous day.
He explained that bitcoin has become increasingly integrated into traditional financial markets through products such as ETFs, basis trading, institutional hedging and collateral use. As a result, bitcoin demand can exist without requiring a major price rally. Many altcoins, however, have yet to develop similar market infrastructure or institutional support.
According to Ebtikar, the gap between bitcoin and smaller tokens is partly due to uncertainty around how many crypto projects create lasting value. Without clear value-generation models, investors are less willing to maintain exposure to altcoins during periods of market weakness.
Technology stocks lose momentum
Weakness in technology stocks has also influenced market sentiment. The Nasdaq 100 declined, while the S&P 500 and Dow Jones Industrial Average moved higher after SpaceX released its first earnings report following its June public listing.
The company’s aggressive AI-related investment plans disappointed investors, causing shares to fall 13% before the closing bell. The AI sector has been viewed as one factor drawing capital away from crypto markets, and any slowdown in that trend could potentially restore interest in digital assets.
Derivatives market trends
Bitcoin leverage improves but needs confirmation:
Crypto futures sentiment turned more positive, with the long-short taker volume ratio moving into bullish territory for the first time in at least a week. Long positions accounted for nearly 52% of trading activity, showing increased demand from buyers.
Bitcoin futures open interest rose to approximately 770,000 BTC. However, similar increases since early June have quickly reversed, with open interest previously falling back toward 740,000 BTC or lower after short-lived spikes. A sustained rise would indicate stronger confidence and renewed willingness among traders to use leverage.
Other indicators, including annualized perpetual funding rates and 24-hour open interest-adjusted cumulative volume delta (CVD), remain supportive of bitcoin’s outlook.
XRP faces bearish signals despite rising open interest:
XRP futures open interest increased 5% in the past day to 2.23 billion tokens, even as the token price declined to $1.04, its weakest level since early July.
A combination of rising open interest and falling prices is often interpreted as a sign of continued selling pressure. Negative perpetual funding rates and weak open interest-adjusted CVD readings suggest some traders are positioning for additional downside.
Ethereum remains quiet while Solana leverage declines:
Ether futures activity remains subdued, with open interest staying below 14 million ETH and showing little change. Solana, meanwhile, continues to see leverage reduced, with futures open interest falling to 60.81 million tokens after reaching above 76.5 million on June 24.
Equity-linked crypto contracts gain popularity:
Several of the most actively traded perpetual futures contracts over the past 24 hours were tied to traditional stocks, including SNK, SPCX and SKYHYNIX. Their popularity alongside bitcoin and ether contracts highlights continued demand for stock exposure through crypto-based trading platforms.
CVD signals show mixed investor behavior:
Large-cap cryptocurrencies are showing divided market sentiment. Bitcoin and ether recorded positive 24-hour CVD readings, suggesting aggressive buying activity. Meanwhile, SUI, XLM, DOGE, AVAX and XRP posted negative CVD figures, indicating weaker buyer participation.
Volatility remains stable for BTC and ETH:
Bitcoin implied volatility has remained steady, with the BVIV index holding near 36%, a level that has historically moved back toward its average. Ether’s implied volatility has followed a similar trend.
Options markets show demand for upside exposure:
Derivatives traders have increased interest in bitcoin call options with higher strike prices, including contracts targeting $96,000 and $80,000. In the ether options market, the $2,000 call was the most actively traded contract over the past day.
NEAR’s AI strategy faces adoption test
NEAR traded at $1.68 on Thursday, falling 1.8% over 24 hours after reaching an intraday high of $1.73. The token has a market capitalization of around $2.19 billion, but its price has not reflected the network’s growing focus on AI computing.
The project recently launched an AI-compute staking system that allows users to lock NEAR tokens to help provide computing resources for artificial intelligence applications. The approach aims to create token demand based on actual network usage rather than speculation or governance.
However, Leo Fan, CEO of Cysic, said the model still faces questions about whether genuine demand exists.
Fan noted that stake-to-compute systems can provide stronger economic utility, but early adoption may be driven mainly by incentives rather than real developer demand. The key challenge will be determining whether users continue paying for computing resources after rewards and subsidies decline.
He highlighted three important factors to monitor: how much of the staked computing capacity is actually being used, the volume of workloads processed, and whether developers continue purchasing computing power once incentives fade.
If AI developers maintain demand after incentives are reduced, the model could prove sustainable. A sharp decline in usage would suggest adoption was primarily reward-driven.
The outcome will be closely watched across the broader AI-crypto sector, as tying tokens to real computing demand represents one of the industry’s strongest attempts to move beyond purely speculative use cases.
