Crypto markets remained range-bound following Wednesday’s CPI release, with muted volatility reflecting a lack of strong conviction among traders.
Bitcoin traded around $63,600 after the latest U.S. inflation figures came in broadly as expected. The data helped reduce some uncertainty but failed to provide the catalyst needed for a decisive move in either direction.
BTC was 0.30% higher since midnight UTC, while the overall crypto market value fell 0.54% over the previous 24 hours to $2.18 trillion.
The July CPI reading rose 3.4% from a year earlier, matching market expectations. Core inflation eased to 2.5% from 2.6%. Attention now shifts to the producer price index report due at 12:30 UTC, which could inject fresh volatility into the market.
U.S. stock futures were also relatively quiet, with S&P 500 futures up 0.13% and Nasdaq 100 futures little changed.
Derivatives Positioning
Crypto futures trading picked up, with 24-hour volume increasing 6% to $147 billion. However, total futures open interest remained broadly stable at around $116 billion.
XRP positioning remains elevated: XRP futures open interest stood at roughly 2.67 billion tokens for a third consecutive session, its highest level since October. A negative 24-hour cumulative volume delta suggests market sellers are more active than buyers, potentially increasing downside pressure toward the $1 level. Still, perpetual funding rates near 8% annually indicate that bullish positions remain prevalent.
ADA and BCH attract bearish bets: Both tokens recorded funding rates below -10%, signaling strong demand for short exposure. Negative CVD readings further point to aggressive selling. ADA is particularly noteworthy, with open interest near its record 2.79 billion tokens, suggesting traders are opening fresh short positions rather than simply closing existing longs.
AVAX records the biggest OI decline: Avalanche’s AVAX, which had been one of the leading open-interest gainers earlier this week, reversed course and posted the largest drop in OI over the past day. Litecoin, Chainlink and Solana were also among the notable decliners.
Bitcoin and ether volatility remains subdued: Options-implied volatility for both assets stayed close to their lowest levels of 2026, indicating limited expectations for a major near-term price swing.
Traders still bet on a BTC rally: One market participant purchased bitcoin calls at the $65,500 strike for $1.07 million in upfront premiums. The trade represents a short-duration bullish position, with the options expiring Aug. 15.
Token Movers
Monero’s XMR climbed 3.15% since midnight UTC to approximately $404, pushing its weekly gain above 11% as the privacy-focused token continued to outperform the broader market.
Hyperliquid’s HYPE added 1.75% to around $57 and has gained roughly 2% over the week, extending its steady advance.
FET rose 0.84%, while NEAR increased 0.94%, with several mid-cap altcoins showing stronger performance than bitcoin and ether.
Curve’s CRV fell 8.38% over the past 24 hours to about $0.25, surrendering part of Wednesday’s rally. Despite the pullback, CRV remains more than 22% higher for the week after breaking through a descending trendline that had constrained the token for months.
MORPHO also underperformed, declining 1.51% since midnight UTC.
