Bitcoin broke above $80,000 for the first time since May, extending its seven-day gain to approximately 25%.
Bitcoin (BTC) rose more than 4% in the last 24 hours, pushing past the $80,000 mark and bringing its weekly gain to around 25%. The CoinDesk 20 (CD20) index also advanced 2.7% over the same period.
The latest crypto rally began after the U.S. Treasury announced plans to at least double buybacks of longer-maturity bonds. Momentum strengthened as rising spot demand and improving market liquidity suggested increasing capital deployment, Glassnode said.
Bitfinex analysts, however, urged caution. Nearly $3 billion in short crypto positions were liquidated over two days, even as Bitcoin network transaction activity remained close to its lowest levels in eight years.
Gold also continued higher, reaching a three-month peak of about $4,650 per ounce. Brent crude, by contrast, fell more than 2% in 24 hours as investors appeared largely unfazed by the U.S. government’s expanding economic pressure on Iran.
Derivatives Positioning
Bitcoin’s rally has stalled somewhat since Asian trading began, although futures data continues to show a bullish bias. Long positions made up more than 51% of total taker activity, with takers referring to traders who execute against existing orders at the best available prices.
At the same time, traders are showing limited interest in adding leverage. BTC futures open interest remains in the low-700,000 BTC range after dropping sharply during last week’s surge, when widespread short liquidations forced bearish positions to close. Reduced leverage could help the market avoid excessive volatility, as high leverage can intensify sudden moves in both directions.
Ether and XRP futures are displaying similar positioning. Solana (SOL) futures open interest increased 4% over the past day to 66.14 million SOL, keeping it within its recent range. A sustained move above $100 could attract additional capital, as SOL has largely traded between $70 and $100 since February.
CVD Points to Fresh Short Positions
The 24-hour open-interest-adjusted cumulative volume delta (CVD) has turned negative for most major tokens, including BTC, ETH and ADA. The reading indicates that sellers have become more aggressive, with traders increasingly using market orders to open short positions instead of placing passive limit orders.
Options Volatility Cools
Options sellers appear to be regaining influence, putting pressure on Bitcoin’s 30-day implied volatility index, BVIV. The measure has fallen to 45% from 49% on Friday, while Ether’s volatility gauge has also declined.
Traders Maintain Upside Bets
Some options traders have committed millions of dollars to positions targeting a rapid Bitcoin move above $82,000. Trading volumes for both Bitcoin and Ether also show a preference for calls and other bullish exposure. Still, negative seven-day skews for both assets indicate that demand for downside hedges remains strong, according to Laevitas.
Token Moves
Virtuals Protocol (VIRTUAL) was among the strongest performers, climbing 12.5% after bringing its AI-agent tokenization platform to Solana. The expansion allows AI agents to raise capital, establish fees and conduct transactions through their own wallets.
Stacks (STX) gained 16%, leading the group despite the lack of a specific catalyst behind the move.
Polygon (POL) rose 12% after co-founder Sandeep Nailwal said the project’s team was progressing with a proposal focused on changes to staking and tokenomics.
Injective (INJ) advanced 10%, extending its recent rally following the SEC registration of an affiliated entity as a transfer agent. Solana gained 5.1%, supported by continued ETF inflows and an upcoming network upgrade.
Not every token followed the broader market higher. Aave (AAVE) dropped 8.5% and Ethena (ENA) fell 6.4%, with neither move linked to an obvious project-specific development. Morpho (MORPHO) declined 7.9%, while ether.fi (ETHFI) slipped 1.3% after gaining about 30% over the previous week.
