Bitcoin traded near $63,600 on Thursday, adding a modest 0.30% since midnight UTC as the broader crypto market settled into what traders are calling a low-volatility holding pattern following Wednesday's inflation print. Total crypto market capitalization slipped 0.54% over 24 hours to $2.18 trillion, even as a handful of altcoins pulled away from the pack.
July's Consumer Price Index came in at 3.4% year-over-year, matching Wall Street forecasts, while core inflation eased to 2.5% annually from 2.6% the month before. The in-line reading gave traders little reason to chase Bitcoin in either direction, though a producer price inflation reading due later in the session was seen as the next potential catalyst for a directional move.
Monero and Hyperliquid Lead the Gainers
Monero was the standout performer, rising 3.15% since midnight to trade around $404, extending its weekly gain past 11%. The privacy coin's strength coincided with the August 6 release of Cuprate, a new Rust-based node client designed to give the Monero network an independent, memory-safe implementation alongside the existing C++ codebase, plus fresh code for the Serai decentralized exchange that aims to let XMR holders swap assets without relying on centralized platforms that have been delisting the token under regulatory pressure.
Hyperliquid also outpaced the market, gaining 1.75% since midnight to $57 and building a 2% weekly advance. Smaller gains showed up in Fetch and Near, each up under 1% on the day, underscoring how narrow the rally was even as most of the market drifted lower.
Related: July CPI Cools to 3.4%, Fed Rate-Hike Odds Cut in Half
Derivatives Point to Selective Positioning
Twenty-four-hour futures volume climbed 6% to $147 billion, though cumulative open interest held roughly flat near $116 billion, suggesting traders were rotating positions rather than adding fresh leverage to the market broadly. XRP futures open interest reached 2.67 billion tokens for a third straight day, its highest level since October, with funding rates near 8% pointing to a bullish tilt even as negative volume delta hinted at selling pressure beneath the surface.
Not every asset shared in the optimism. ADA and BCH funding rates dropped to -10% or lower alongside negative volume delta, a combination that typically signals aggressive selling rather than short-covering. AVAX posted the largest 24-hour open interest decline after a strong prior week, and CRV fell 8.38% to 25 cents despite still holding a 22% weekly gain. Recent ETF flow data has shown a similar split in institutional appetite between Bitcoin and its smaller rivals.
Options Market Stays Muted
Implied volatility for both Bitcoin and Ether remained near year-to-date lows, a sign that options traders aren't bracing for a large near-term move. One notable exception was a $1.07 million premium paid for BTC calls at the $65,500 strike expiring August 15, a bet that Bitcoin could break out of its recent range before the contract lapses. CoinMarketCap's Fear and Greed Index registered 38 out of 100, still in "fear" territory despite the market's largely sideways drift.
