Bitcoin and ether are the only cryptocurrencies among the CoinDesk 20 index showing gains, as investors appear to be moving toward larger, more established assets while altcoins struggle to attract demand.

Bitcoin rose about 0.9% over the past 24 hours to trade near $64,700, while the broader CoinDesk 20 (CD20) index gained just 0.16%. Despite major stock indexes reaching record highs, the strength in traditional markets has failed to create broad momentum across crypto markets.

The shift suggests traders are seeking relative safety in the largest digital assets, with bitcoin and ether remaining the only CD20 constituents in positive territory. Zaheer Ebtikar, chief strategy officer at crypto neobank Plasma, said many altcoins are under pressure because they lack strong support from bitcoin’s price movement.

Ebtikar said altcoin open interest has dropped approximately 15% over the past month, compared with an 8% increase in bitcoin. CoinMarketCap’s Altcoin Season Index also declined to 42 out of 100, indicating weaker performance among smaller tokens.

He explained that bitcoin has gained a stronger role within traditional financial markets through spot ETFs, basis trading, institutional hedging and collateral applications. This means bitcoin can attract demand even without a major price surge. Most altcoins, by comparison, have yet to develop similar institutional use cases.

According to Ebtikar, many altcoin projects continue to struggle with explaining how value is created for token holders, making investors less willing to maintain exposure when markets turn lower.

AI-driven equity rally loses momentum

Technology stocks faced renewed pressure, with the Nasdaq 100 falling while the S&P 500 and Dow Jones Industrial Average moved higher. The move followed SpaceX’s first earnings report after its public debut in June.

Investors reacted negatively to the company’s large increase in AI-related spending, sending shares down 13% before the market closed. The AI boom has been cited as one reason capital has moved away from crypto markets, and a reversal in that trend could potentially restore interest in digital assets.

Derivatives market overview

Bitcoin futures show improving sentiment but require confirmation:
The crypto futures market saw a shift in positioning, with the long-short taker volume ratio turning positive for the first time in at least a week. Long positions represented nearly 52% of trading activity, suggesting stronger buyer participation.

Bitcoin futures open interest increased to around 770,000 BTC. However, similar increases since early June have often faded quickly, with open interest falling back toward 740,000 BTC or lower shortly afterward. A sustained rise would indicate stronger confidence and renewed willingness to use leverage.

Additional indicators, including perpetual funding rates and open interest-adjusted cumulative volume delta (CVD), continue to support a positive outlook for bitcoin.

XRP shows signs of continued weakness:
XRP futures open interest climbed 5% over the past 24 hours to 2.23 billion tokens, while the token price declined to $1.04, marking its lowest level since early July.

The combination of rising open interest and falling prices is often considered a bearish signal, suggesting traders may be adding positions while expecting further declines. Negative perpetual funding rates and weak CVD readings reinforce the cautious outlook for XRP.

Ether remains flat while Solana leverage declines:
Ethereum futures activity remains subdued, with open interest staying below 14 million ETH and showing little change. Solana, meanwhile, has continued to see leverage leave the market, with futures open interest falling to 60.81 million tokens after reaching more than 76.5 million on June 24.

Traditional assets gain traction through crypto derivatives:
Stock-related perpetual futures were among the most actively traded contracts over the past day, with products linked to SNK, SPCX and SKYHYNIX ranking alongside bitcoin and ether. The trend highlights continued demand for trading traditional assets through crypto-based platforms.

Market sentiment remains divided across major tokens:
CVD readings showed mixed conditions among large cryptocurrencies. Bitcoin and ether recorded positive 24-hour CVD figures, indicating aggressive buying pressure, while SUI, XLM, DOGE, AVAX and XRP posted negative readings, pointing to weaker demand.

Volatility stays stable for BTC and ETH:
Bitcoin’s implied volatility remained unchanged, with the BVIV index holding near 36%, a level that has historically moved back toward its average. Ether’s implied volatility showed a similar pattern.

Options traders increase bullish exposure:
Bitcoin options markets showed stronger demand for upside-focused contracts, with traders targeting call options at strikes such as $80,000 and $96,000. In the ether market, the $2,000 call option was the most actively traded contract over the past 24 hours.

NEAR’s AI-compute strategy faces real demand test

NEAR traded at $1.68 on Thursday, down 1.8% over the previous day after briefly reaching $1.73. The token has a market capitalization of roughly $2.19 billion, but its price performance has not reflected the network’s push into AI computing.

The project recently introduced an AI-compute staking system that allows users to lock NEAR tokens to help provide computing resources for artificial intelligence applications. The approach aims to create demand based on actual usage rather than speculation or governance.

Leo Fan, CEO of Cysic, said the model’s biggest challenge is proving that real demand exists.

He noted that while stake-to-compute models can provide tokens with stronger utility, early activity may be driven primarily by incentives rather than genuine developer demand.

Fan highlighted three areas to monitor: actual usage of staked computing capacity, workload growth, and whether developers continue paying for services once incentives are reduced.

If AI developers continue using and paying for computing resources after subsidies fade, the model could demonstrate long-term sustainability. However, if activity falls sharply, it may indicate that adoption was mainly incentive-driven.

The outcome of NEAR’s experiment will be closely watched by the broader AI-crypto sector, as linking tokens to real computing demand represents one of the industry’s strongest efforts to move beyond speculative use cases.