Every week, we dive into what happened in the crypto market, onchain and off-chain, as well as macro developments — so you can get smarter on your Sundays and prepare for the week ahead.
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Markets At a Glance
Macro Still in Control: Markets remained sensitive to inflation expectations and interest rate uncertainty, as traders cautiously await key CPI and Fed commentary. Risky assets, including crypto, traded more like macro beta than narrative-driven assets.
ETF Flows Remain Volatile: Bitcoin ETF flows remained choppy throughout the week, signaling indecision on the part of institutions, instead of conviction.
FX Pressures Risky Assets: The strengthening U.S. dollar and stable yields kept liquidity conditions tight, limiting upside momentum in crypto despite periodic rebounds.
Positioning > Narratives: Open interest and derivative activity suggested traders are actively hedging and repositioning.
Market Structure Consolidates: Following liquidation-driven volatility, crypto markets seem to be consolidating, with lower leverage and more range-bound price action.
Macro Impacts:
Persistent “higher-for-longer” interest rate expectations are suppressing speculative flows;
Liquidity conditions remain the primary driver of crypto prices;
The stronger dollar continues to pull capital away from high-beta assets; and
Macro data releases are acting as volatility catalysts more than crypto-native news.
This Week on The Market Runup
The latest episode of The Market Runup saw Erin Gambrel (The Blonde Broker) and Austin Federa, co-founder of DoubleZero, discuss why infrastructure, not hype, is becoming the defining theme of crypto’s next phase.
Against the current macro backdrop of constrained liquidity, lower risk appetites, and a maturing crypto market, Erin and Austin explored how crypto is being forced to “grow up” into real financial infrastructure.
Austin also got into DoubleZero’s dedicated network layer for blockchains that can address the emerging bottlenecks of bandwidth, latency and physical internet limitations as high-performance blockchains scale globally.
The discussion dove into the “speed wars” in crypto, drawing parallels to TradFi dynamics like colocation, fiber advantages, and latency-sensitive markets, and questioned whether crypto is entering an era in which infrastructure matters more than narratives.
Erin and Austin also examined how downturns have historically accelerated foundational building, how blockchain infrastructure could become strategically important in a fragmented global financial landscape, and more.
Noteworthy Market Stats
The metrics are accurate at the time of publication. The percentage change is over a 7-day period.
Total crypto market cap: ~$2.3T – $2.4T (range-bound week)
Top 3 Assets:
Bitcoin (BTC) – $1.7T – $1.8T at ~$67,840
Ethereum (ETH) – $340B at ~$1,951.62
Solana (SOL) – $75B at~ $84
Bitcoin dominance vs altcoins: Elevated, reflecting defensive positioning and capital rotation into BTC.
Stablecoin market cap: ~$307B (relatively stable compared to last week)
Bitcoin ETF net flows: Mixed / choppy with no sustained trend.
Macro drivers to note: interest rate uncertainty, equity market volatility, dollar strength, and upcoming inflation data continue to wield more influence than internal catalysts.
The Market Runup’s Take:
The market is trading on positioning and liquidity, not hype.
The past week reinforced a major structural shift: crypto is behaving less like a standalone asset class and more like a high-beta extension of global liquidity conditions.
As Open interest stabilizes after prior liquidations and ETF flows signal indecision, the market is clearly in “wait and see” mode. Instead of seeing aggressive trends continue, there’s evidence of tactical positioning around macro catalysts like CPI, Fed messaging, and dollar strength.
Bitcoin continued to closely mirror broader macro risk assets this week, reinforcing the ongoing trend of crypto being traded as a liquidity-sensitive, macro-driven asset rather than a purely narrative-led one.
Spot vs Derivatives Flows (what to watch): Funding rates and Open interest suggest investors are being cautious about building leverage rather than taking on risk — traders are hedging and reacting to macro events.
Cross-asset correlations (what it tells you): BTC continues to show strong correlation with tech equities and broader risk indices, and is reacting inversely to dollar strength — reinforcing the macro-risk asset narrative.
What’s The Risk Appetite?
Liquidity stress remains a key risk, as unexpected macro data surprises could quickly tighten financial conditions and trigger sharp repricing across risky assets, including crypto.
Concentrated holders and whale positioning shifts are especially important to monitor during low-volume conditions, as large moves by a few entities can disproportionately impact prices and market sentiment.
The gradual rebuilding of derivatives leverage is increasing sensitivity to liquidation, meaning even modest downside moves could snowball and amplify volatility if positions become overcrowded.
Macro risk events on deck, particularly CPI releases, Fed commentary and Treasury yield movement, are likely to act as primary catalysts for market direction rather than crypto-native narratives.
Finally, continuing reversals in ETF flows could spur short-term volatility, as inconsistent institutional inflows and outflows signal fragile conviction and a market that is still highly reactive to macro sentiment.
Learn More
We liked what they wrote, so we thought you would, too.
Bitcoin, Ethereum, XRP ETFs bleed while Solana bucks outflow trend (CoinDesk)
Spot bitcoin ETFs notch five straight weeks of outflows for first time since March 2025 (TheBlock)
CME to Launch 24/7 Crypto Futures Trading in May (Unchained)
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This information is for entertainment purposes only. It should not be considered financial advice, nor should it be used to make investment decisions. Cryptocurrencies are high risk and you should consult a financial professional before making any financial decisions. Make sure you do your own research.