Bitcoin Treads Water as Traders Eye $140K: Crypto Daybook Americas
BTC$119,172.52 is pretty much back to where it was 24 hours ago, ether (ETH) and XRP
XRP$3.4963 extended their gains after the House of Representatives passed the first major crypto regulatory initiative in the U.S. even though the legislation is aimed at stablecoins. It’s the knock-on effect that spurred trading activity. More about that later.
While the second- and third-largest cryptocurrencies have outpaced their larger rival in the past seven and 30 days, it’s worth noting BTC has climbed more than 40% in the past three months and hit a new record high. Market participants are betting the party isn’t over yet, the derivatives market shows.
Bitcoin’s options market now carries a $2.36 billion wager the price will clear $140,000, data from Deribit shows. That single strike price holds the most open interest on the exchange, double the OI of the busiest put option, or bet on a decline.
Ether options show a similar pattern. The $4,000 call leads with $651 million in open interest, and another $280 million is targeting $6,000. The data shows how heavily the market is tilting bullish even after ETH surged more than 125% in just three months.
As the prices rise, the money flows in. Spot bitcoin ETFs have already brought in $5.41 billion this month, the most since November 2024, when President Donald Trump was elected on a pro-crypto platform. Spot ether ETFs saw net inflows of $2.88 billion, the highest since August 2024, SoSoValue data shows. As an aside, to underpin the altcoin narrative, net inflows into the ether ETFs beat those for bitcoin ETFs yesterday.
To Boris Alergant, the head of institutional partnerships at Babylon Labs, these flows underscore “the shift from speculative retail to long-term institutional allocation.”
The regulatory environment is part of the story. The GENIUS Act, expected to be signed into law later today, tightens rules for yield-bearing stablecoins. The law is seen as nudging treasurers toward native ETH staking and transparent restaking vaults.
Robinson Burkey, co-founder of the Wormhole Foundation, told CoinDesk the GENIUS act, along with the Clarity Act are the “first meaningful answers” to the crypto market’s requests for rules that won’t stifle innovation.
Trump is also expected to sign an executive order in the near future opening up 401K plans to investments beyond stocks and bonds. That would open the $9 trillion U.S. retirement market to cryptocurrency, gold and other investments.
“It’s plausible that the meaningful progression of legislative matters could be the catalyst for unlocking further participation from risk-averse capital that has been sitting on the sidelines waiting for regulatory certainty,” Babylon Labs’ Alergant told CoinDesk.
“When you combine structural demand, tightening BTC supply post-halving, and a potentially favorable policy backdrop, the setup for this market remains incredibly strong.”
Still, bitcoin’s share of the market has been dropping this month and the broad CoinDesk 20 (CD20) index is up 32% this month, outperforming the bitcoin-heavy CoinDesk 5 (CD5), which rose 17% in the same period. Bitcoin dominance, which measures bitcoin’s weighting in what is now a more than $4 trillion market cap, has dropped to 61.7% from 65.5% on June 30.
“The infrastructure has matured, stablecoins are proven, liquidity is deeper, and execution is faster, making this cycle feel more durable than past rallies.” Sei Labs co-founder Jeff Feng told CoinDesk “It’s a pivotal moment for on-chain finance to prove its staying power.” Stay alert!
By Francisco Rodrigues, Shaurya Malwa|Edited by Sheldon Reback
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