Flight to Quality: $BTC and $ETH Soak Up the Crypto CPD While Altcoins Get Dumped 🛬

Bitcoin has gained roughly 0.9% in the past 24 hours to trade around $64,700, while the broader CoinDesk 20 (CD20) is up just 0.16%, according to CoinDesk Data. Ether has added 0.6% to $1,907.84. The two largest cryptocurrencies are the only CD20 members in positive territory, with traders rotating into the market's biggest tokens as altcoins lose momentum. Altcoin open interest has fallen about 15% over the past month while bitcoin has added roughly 8% in the same period, according to Zaheer Ebtikar, chief strategy officer at crypto neobank Plasma. CoinMarketCap's Altcoin Season index dropped one point from Wednesday to 42/100. Bitcoin BTC is trading at $64,407.29 and ether ETH at $1,907.84, per CoinDesk figures.

Ebtikar told CoinDesk that altcoins are struggling "without aggressive support from bitcoin momentum." He said bitcoin's integration into "capital markets plumbing with ETFs, basis trading, institutional hedging, and collateral" means flows into the asset don't require a rally to justify themselves, whereas "most of the altcoin market hasn't made that transition yet." He added that the divergence stems from projects failing to clearly define how value accrues, leaving them unable to justify investor exposure during market declines.

The equity backdrop has been mixed. The Nasdaq 100 index fell on the day while the S&P 500 and Dow Jones Industrial Average rose, with shares of Elon Musk's SpaceX (SPCX) dropping 13% before the closing bell after the company reported its first results since going public in June. The IPO revealed a sharp rise in AI-linked capital spending that investors punished. The AI trade has been widely cited as a driver of capital rotating out of crypto, and any reversal could shift sentiment back toward digital assets.

In derivatives, the long-short taker volume ratio for the crypto futures market has flipped bullish, with bitcoin futures open interest rising, implied volatility steady and a growing share of upside options bets. XRP and SOL, by contrast, are facing leverage-driven pressure. Separately, NEAR's new stake-to-compute model ties its token to AI computing power, though analysts note its success depends on sustained real demand and usage once early incentives and subsidies fade. Bitcoin's relative strength comes as capital continues to consolidate in the largest tokens while smaller-cap names wait for a broader catalyst.