Today was a classic “digest the rally” session.
Total crypto market cap cooled to around $3.23T (about -1.4% on the day) after pushing higher earlier. Altcoins lagged harder (about -2.3%), while BTC dominance held near 59%, so Bitcoin kept gaining share even as the market paused.
BTC traded in the mid-$90Ks after briefly pushing above $97K, while ETH held up better than most alts. Volume faded (about -20%) but derivatives open interest rose (about +11%), which usually means leverage is rebuilding even though price is not trending yet.
Under the hood, the bid still looks institutional: spot BTC ETFs stayed strong with another large inflow day, and bigger wallets have been adding while smaller holders have been net sellers. That mix tends to support the uptrend, but it also raises liquidation risk if we get a negative shock.
Macro is still a tailwind with rate cut expectations in the background, but regulation is back in focus after the US Senate Banking Committee delayed progress on a market structure bill and the debate over yield-bearing stablecoins intensified.
Net: BTC-led consolidation near highs, alts still heavy, leverage rising, sentiment back in “greed.” The next big move likely depends on whether BTC can hold these levels without another leverage flush.
