By Francisco Rodrigues (All times ET unless indicated otherwise)
Bitcoin’s (BTC) status as a haven in the context of broader financial markets may be up for debate, but within crypto it’s hardly questionable. Cryptocurrency prices have fallen across the board over the last 24 hours, yet bets on BTC’s dominance keep growing.
The market’s sell-off comes amid profit-taking and conflicting messages from the Trump administration over its trade war with China.
Those comments cooled a rally that started after President Donald Trump signaled he would not remove Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell and suggested a softer stance on trade with China. That helped the price of bitcoin to approach $95,000 before it dropped back to $92,200.
The pullback followed comments from Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent, who said there’s no unilateral plan to lift U.S. tariffs on Chinese goods, contradicting Trump’s suggestion that tariff rates could drop in the coming weeks. Investors struggled to interpret the policy direction as Trump also hinted at a “fair deal” with the world’s second-largest economy.
The uncertainty revealed a shift toward bitcoin in the crypto space. The broader CoinDesk 20 (CD20) index lost 3.75% of its value over the last 24 hours, compared with BTC’s 2% drop.
Institutional traders’ preference for BTC is shown by a Binance futures contract tracking the cryptocurrency’s dominance. It’s traded at a 76% premium for the one-year forward, indicating traders expect BTC to retain an edge over altcoins in the coming months, according to an emailed statement from Jake O., an OTC trader at Wintermute.
Options trading further illustrates this positioning. Large bets were placed on bitcoin hitting $110,000 by June, according to Jake O., with traders simultaneously selling calls at $140,000 and $170,000 for September and December — a calendar spread that signals short-term optimism and long-term caution.
Similar activity emerged in May $110,000 calls, where growing gamma exposure points to increasing sensitivity in the market to price swings. Still, long-term crypto holders remain unfazed as data shows they keep accumulating.
For now, the markets remain reactive to the signals coming out of Washington, which given their softer stance also led to a gold dropping to $3,350 per ounce from more than $3,500. Stay alert!
