Crypto: traders want more risk

Crypto: traders want more risk

Market Overview

The crypto market capitalisation rose by a further 1.7% to $2.95T, briefly exceeding the $3T mark. Altcoins remain the driving force, but the wave of growth has now spread to smaller coins, while BTC, ETH, and BNB have gained less than 0.5% over this period. Bitcoin Cash (+34%), Uniswap (+15%) and The Graph (+12.8%) have surged over the past day. The worst performers over the same period were Tron (−1.4%), Tezos (−0.1%) and Algorand (−0.1%). 

Bitcoin is trading at around $86.2K on Wednesday morning, having matched Monday’s intraday highs of $87.3K, but facing similar selling pressure. Optimism in the altcoin market and in equities suggests that we are witnessing a temporary shift of speculative capital from the leading cryptocurrency into altcoins. Many investors had parked their cryptocurrency-allocated capital in the most liquid asset class and are now seeking more profitable opportunities. In such situations, there has previously been a slowdown but not a reversal in BTC, as price pullbacks have attracted new buyers who had previously kept their money out of the risky crypto market. This is a typical cyclical rise driven by a growing appetite for risk in search of higher returns.

Bitcoin Cash has surged by more than 30% over the past 24 hours, dipping to $360 earlier today. Despite a 70% rally over seven days, the price has only risen to levels last seen in the second half of May. In early January, BCH reversed from the resistance zone established in the second half of 2021 near $660, then declined rapidly to $190. The altcoin is now climbing out of a deep trough, and if positive market momentum persists, it could recover quickly to the $450 region, where it was bought between October 2025 and May 2026.

News Background

Inflows into spot Bitcoin ETFs in the US have surged to levels last seen in early October last year ($1 billion), when BTC reached all-time highs of around $126K. Ethereum ETFs have also recorded their highest capital inflows since last October.

The inflows into ETFs coincided with increased buying directly on crypto exchanges: the rise is being driven by real purchases, but leveraged positions are also growing rapidly in their wake, according to Glassnode. Around two-thirds of Bitcoin’s supply is currently in profit, which increases the risk of profit-taking.

According to Santiment, fear of missing out (FOMO) has reached its highest level since 2024 as the leading cryptocurrency rose towards $87K. Such one-sided optimism often increases the likelihood of a local trend reversal.

US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent has described dollar-pegged stablecoins as one of the instruments underpinning the dollar’s global role. According to him, the dollar accounts for 89.2% of foreign exchange market transactions, and the vast majority of ‘stablecoins’ are pegged to the USD. 

The FxPro Analyst Team