Layer-2 Tokens Moonwalk Past Post-Fed Jitters as Risk-On Returns to Crypto 🪩

Bitcoin rose above $78,000 during the European morning on Friday, climbing 2.1% since midnight UTC and 1.9% over the prior 24 hours, according to CoinDesk data. The move left $BTC at $77,976.69 and still about 5% below its Sept. 4 monthly high of $82,284, following two weeks of range-bound trading.

Layer-2 and DeFi tokens led the advance. Starknet ($STRK) gained 18%, arbitrum ($ARB) added 17% and uniswap ($UNI) rose 13%, while the DeFi Select Index (DFX) surged 8.3% since midnight and 16% over 24 hours. Of the CoinDesk 100 constituents, 98 were higher on the day, with privacy and haven assets that led Thursday's gains giving way to a return of risk-on positioning.

The rally tracked a more constructive macro backdrop. The 10-year U.S. Treasury yield slipped back below 5% and Brent crude eased under $103 after trading as high as $109 earlier in the week, easing the inflation scare that followed the Federal Reserve's rate hike. S&P 500 futures rose 0.3% and Nasdaq 100 futures gained 0.6%, while gold and silver added 1.1% and 2.8% respectively.

Derivatives data pointed to a revival in positional trading rather than aggressive momentum chasing. Cumulative futures open interest expanded roughly 5% to $141.2 billion, while daily trading volume fell 3% to $95 billion, and taker buy-sell volume remained balanced. Bitcoin futures open interest ticked up to 680K BTC from 670K BTC since midnight UTC alongside the price advance, though the tally remains well below the early-year peak of 800K BTC, leaving overall positioning light.