BTC jumped to roughly $115,500, as risk appetite returns with broad market cap rising to over $3.9 trillion.
A short squeeze produced roughly $392 million of liquidations and wiped out ~101,591 traders, with Bitcoin shorts accounting for about $87 million.
Macro catalysts including a good spin in the U.S.–China trade rhetoric and a dovish Fed outlook drove the move. Powell and the Trump–Xi headlines remain primary regime drivers.
Derivatives structure is mixed: funding stays muted/negative and open interest elevated which signals that rallies are real but fragile, subject to quick deleveraging.
Tactical posture: reduce headline sensitivity with staggered sizing; favor core BTC exposure, selected ETH and SOL risk, and maintain cash buffer for volatility.
For the first time since it began accumulating Bitcoin in 2020, Michael Saylor signalled the company may sell part of its holdings — a shift in the buy-and-hold model that has defined Strategy's identity and underpinned its equity premium.
The exchange's third major headcount reduction in three years tracks closely with the crypto market cycle, even as Armstrong points to AI as a structural reason to operate with fewer people.
The SEC this week delayed the launch of more than two dozen prediction market ETFs, citing concerns about product mechanics and disclosures. A Bloomberg analysis published last week suggests the retail-friendly pitch underpinning these products doesn't quite hold up to scrutiny.
A wave of exchange-traded funds designed to give investors exposure to prediction market outcomes was expected to begin trading as early as Thursday — until U.S. regulators intervened.
