coindesk.com 
Smaller speculative tokens are surging as bitcoin $BTC$61 206,35 and other major tokens extend Wednesday’s advance. The CoinDesk 20 Index rose almost 5% in 24 hours to its highest in a week, with all members in the green.
Memecore’s M and Audiera’s BEAT have gained 81% and 12%, respectively, making them the best performers among the top 100 coins by market value. At No. 3, Venice Token (VVV) is up 9%.
Bitcoin, the largest cryptocurrency, added more than 4% to $61,200, and ether ($ETH), the second-largest, rose 5%. Solana’s $SOL gained 9% as the network unveiled an onchain governance system that requires staking at least 100,000 tokens to submit proposals. $XRP is up almost 4%.
"First real bounce of the whole selloff, and it has something behind it," analysts at Marex said in an email. "[Federal Reserve Chairman Kevin] Warsh told Sintra that inflation risks have come down, the July hike bet got walked back, and $BTC ripped back over $60k for the first time in a week. $SOL is the star, up roughly 16% on the week and leading everything."
Others pointed to the nonfarm payrolls report due later Thursday and President Donald Trump’s introduction of voluntary AI model standards expected next week as key events to watch.
Derivatives positioning
- The derivatives market is seeing increased activity, with $BTC, $ETH, and other major coins rising in the wake of dovish comments from Fed Chair Kevin Warsh.
- The 24-hour trading volume has jumped 18% to nearly $200 million, while open interest (OI) rose 4% to $107 million. Liquidations totaled $444.6 million, with shorts accounting for the majority, a dramatic shift from weeks of long liquidations.
- $BTC’s OI rose to 777.87K $BTC from 768K $BTC a day ago, the most since June 4. An increase in OI alongside rising prices typically confirms an uptrend. In other words, $BTC’s bounce to $61,000 may have legs.
- Positive annualized funding rates around 10% and the strongest 24-hour cumulative volume delta (CVD) among major cryptocurrencies support the bullish interpretation.
- $ETH, however, is not yet seeing a return of demand for leveraged exposure. Futures OI remains pinned near 13.8 million tokens. The same holds for $XRP. $SOL futures activity is also slowing, with OI now at 72 million $SOL, down from a record high of over 76.6 million on June 24.
- On Binance the three-month futures basis for both $BTC and $ETH remains below the U.S. 10-year Treasury yield of 4.49%. This discount signals low incentive for cash-and-carry arbitrage and limited institutional deployment. The broader market looks constructive.
- The 24-hour OI-adjusted CVD for most of the top 25 tokens is positive, indicating buyers are more aggressive and hitting market orders rather than passive limit orders. This marks a notable shift from recent seller dominance.
- Supporting the bull case, 30-day implied volatility indexes for $BTC and $ETH have reversed the spike seen in late June. Volatility indexes typically move opposite to spot prices.
- The Deribit options market has yet to show the same easing. $BTC and $ETH puts continue to trade at a premium to calls. Block flows over-the-counter desk Paradigm show diverging trends: $BTC $57K puts were lifted, while $ETH calls saw demand across various strikes.
