Bitcoin and major cryptocurrencies rose after dovish signals from the Federal Reserve, with highly speculative altcoins such as Memecore’s M and Audiera’s BEAT leading the market gains.

Smaller tokens outperformed as bitcoin BTC $61,838.15 and other large-cap assets extended Wednesday’s rebound. The CoinDesk 20 Index advanced nearly 5% over 24 hours to a one-week high, with all constituents closing in the green.

Memecore’s M surged 81%, while Audiera’s BEAT gained 12%, placing both among the strongest performers in the top 100 cryptocurrencies by market capitalization. Venice Token (VVV), ranked third, rose about 9%.

Bitcoin climbed more than 4% to around $61,200, while ether (ETH) added 5%. Solana’s SOL jumped 9% after introducing an on-chain governance model requiring at least 100,000 staked tokens to submit proposals. XRP also rose close to 4%.

Marex analysts called the move the “first real bounce of the whole selloff,” citing Fed Chair Kevin Warsh’s remarks in Sintra that inflation risks had eased. They said the comments helped scale back expectations of a near-term rate hike and pushed BTC back above $60,000 for the first time in a week, with Solana emerging as a standout performer.

Attention now shifts to upcoming catalysts, including Thursday’s U.S. nonfarm payrolls report and policy developments such as President Donald Trump’s planned voluntary AI model standards.

In derivatives markets, activity picked up as BTC, ETH, and other majors rallied on dovish Fed commentary. Trading volume rose 18% to nearly $200 million, while open interest increased 4% to $107 million. Total liquidations reached $444.6 million, with shorts making up the bulk of positions unwound, reversing recent long-heavy liquidations.

Bitcoin open interest rose to 777.87K BTC from 768K the day before, its highest level since June 4. Rising prices alongside increasing open interest typically suggest strengthening momentum, indicating the rebound may have further room to run.

Positive annualized funding rates near 10% and strong 24-hour cumulative volume delta readings reinforce a short-term bullish setup.

Ethereum, however, has yet to see a meaningful return of leveraged demand, with futures open interest stuck around 13.8 million tokens. XRP shows a similar lack of positioning, while Solana futures activity has eased from recent highs, with open interest slipping to 72 million SOL from 76.6 million in late June.

On Binance, the three-month futures basis for BTC and ETH remains below the U.S. 10-year Treasury yield of 4.49%, signaling muted arbitrage incentives and limited institutional engagement, even as broader conditions remain constructive.

Across major tokens, 24-hour open interest-adjusted cumulative volume delta remains positive, indicating aggressive market buying rather than passive limit order support—a shift from recent selling pressure.

Implied volatility for BTC and ETH has also cooled after a spike in late June, a pattern often associated with stabilizing price trends as volatility typically moves inversely to spot performance.

However, options markets remain cautious. Put options continue to trade at a premium to calls on Deribit, while OTC flows tracked by Paradigm show mixed positioning—BTC saw demand for $57K puts, while ETH calls were actively accumulated across multiple strikes.

In ecosystem news, Ethereum layer-2 network Taiko reopened its cross-chain bridge following a $1.70 million exploit in July, after completing a multi-stage recovery and independent security review.

The announcement briefly sent TAIKO more than 100% higher to $0.38 before it retraced to around $0.16, highlighting sharp volatility in smaller-cap tokens. With a market cap of roughly $32.5 million, TAIKO remains outside the top 500 cryptocurrencies, underscoring its higher-risk profile.