Crypto market moves ‘as one block’ despite broader rally: Cryptex co-founder

The crypto market has posted sharp gains across Bitcoin and several major altcoins, but Cryptex Finance data covering 36 assets and roughly 92% of the digital asset market shows that capital remains heavily concentrated in Bitcoin and Ethereum despite prices rising across the market. Summary Cryptex’s 36-asset index gained just 1.92% over the trailing seven days, even as several major cryptocurrencies posted much larger gains from their recent lows. Joe Sticco said low price dispersion suggests cryptocurrencies are moving together rather than investors rotating capital between assets and sectors. Sticco said roughly nine out of every ten dollars entering regulated crypto products during one recent session went to Bitcoin and Ethereum. U.S. spot Bitcoin ETF inflows provide evidence of institutional demand, although Sticco said rising asset values should not be confused with fresh capital entering the funds. Cryptex Finance co-founder Joe Sticco told crypto.news that participation in the recent rally had spread across the market, but the allocation of capital had not followed at the same pace, leaving cryptocurrencies trading more like a single group than a market in which investors are selecting individual winners. Cryptex’s market index stood at 1,199.69, almost 20% above the base level of 1,000 set on Feb. 20. The index tracks 36 assets across five sectors using Coinbase pricing, giving Sticco a larger sample than Bitcoin or a handful of major altcoins alone. Over the trailing seven days, however, the index had risen only 1.92%. Sticco said the figure matters because much of the rally that produced large percentage gains from recent lows took place within roughly 72 hours between Aug. 19 and Aug. 21, followed by several days of relatively flat trading. You might also like: Bitcoin needs ETF demand to hold as Fed rate hike risk grows: analysts “Measure from the low, and you get a rally. Measure the trailing week, which is what most readers think they’re being told, and you get almost nothing,” Sticco said. Bitcoin’s acceleration during that period followed a major derivatives flush alongside renewed spot demand. Earlier market coverage showed BTC jumping from below $65,000 to around $69,500 on Aug. 19 as more than $1 billion in crypto short positions were liquidated within an hour. Crypto market gains show little separation between assets Price dispersion within Cryptex’s index provides another reason Sticco is reluctant to describe the rally as a full capital rotation. On the day measured by Cryptex, the strongest constituent gained 6.71%, while the weakest declined 1.49%. Despite covering 36 cryptocurrencies from five sectors, the entire range between the best and worst performers amounted to roughly eight percentage points. “That is not a market sorting winners from losers. That’s a market moving as one block,” Sticco said.