The smallest liquid tokens did the heavy lifting on Monday, with the CoinDesk 80 index up about 3% over 24 hours, more than double the 1.2% gain in the large-cap CoinDesk 5. Bitcoin held near $84,000 after a Sunday high of $84,145, while ether added about 2.5% to trade at $2,560, CoinDesk reported. The rally is running on the thinnest part of the market. One year after the 10 October 2025 flash crash, order-book depth for bitcoin and ether has recovered to pre-crash levels in dollar terms, while altcoin liquidity has kept eroding, CoinDesk research found, leaving smaller tokens prone to outsized moves in both directions.
Institutions are moving the other way
U.S. spot bitcoin ETFs lost $681 million last week, the most since June, with most of the selling on Wednesday and Thursday. Spot ether ETFs have not had an inflow day since 28 September, a nine-session run that is the longest since June. Implied volatility is not pricing drama: bitcoin's BVIV index is struggling to hold above 40% after bouncing from year-to-date lows near 34%, and ether's gauge shows the same. Among individual movers, Basis Desk put Wormhole up 69.7% and Reserve Rights up 49.1% over 24 hours, with total crypto market value at $2.78 trillion and bitcoin dominance at 60%. The Fear and Greed Index read 69, in greed territory. See the market one year after the $19 billion liquidation day and ether's worst ETF week since January.