Bitcoin pushed to an intraday gain of 2.4%, touching $84,737, while tech shares advanced and crypto shook off a quiet spell. The move tracked a rally linked to SpaceX earnings that rekindled interest in risk assets, even as doubts persist about how durable the artificial intelligence boom will be.
Regulatory tone helped too.
Leverage is creeping back through perpetual futures. Open interest - the tally of outstanding contracts - has been climbing again after a stretch of de-risking, based on Coinglass data.
Options are leaning bullish as well, with buyers concentrating on call contracts around $95,000, $90,000 and $100,000 strikes, according to crypto exchange Deribit. Still, not all of this looks like fresh risk-taking.
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"Risk assets in general got a lift from solid earnings and renewed AI interest while oil remains elevated and choppy." said Jasper De Maere, an over-the-counter trader at Wintermute. "At the moment, this still feels like a recovery vs the start of a rally, however that could turn quickly if we approach $87,000 Bitcoin with decent momentum."
ETF activity is one key tell. Spot Bitcoin funds have taken in about $2.3 billion over the last month, Bloomberg data show, pointing to revived interest, with BlackRock's IBIT absorbing most of those flows. But Glassnode cautioned that appetite looks narrow so far: "Inflows that repeat on rising volume would show demand broadening beyond a single day," they wrote in a note Wednesday. As for near-term potential, ZeroStack's chief executive, Daniel Reis-Faria, said, "I think there's plenty of fuel in the tank for it to fly higher again."
In plain English: the bounce reflects a mix of risk-on sentiment, a friendlier regulatory signal, and positioning shifts in futures and options. For durability, watch whether spot ETF inflows persist and build on volume, and whether Bitcoin can approach $87,000 with momentum as traders suggest.
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