Wall Street got a clean risk-on session Wednesday. The S&P 500 gained 2.55%, the Nasdaq 2.97%, and the Russell 2000 nearly 3%, as an Iran ceasefire agreement triggered a swift unwind of defensive hedges. The VIX collapsed nearly 13% to 21.04 — its sharpest single-day compression since the recent selloff — and 10-year Treasury yields fell 16 basis points to around 4.20% as safe-haven demand eased.
Crypto didn't follow the script.
Bitcoin is trading at $70,877 as of Thursday morning in Asia, down 0.95% over 24 hours, despite posting a 6.5% gain on the week. Altcoins fared worse across the board: ETH fell 2.94% to $2,177, SOL dropped 3.44% to $81.89, BNB shed 2.52% to $599, and XRP slid 2.83% to $1.34.
The divergence from equities is reflected in how capital is sitting within crypto itself. BTC dominance climbed to 58.9% — its highest share of the $2.42 trillion total market cap in recent memory — suggesting traders are rotating toward Bitcoin as a relative safe haven within the asset class rather than reaching for risk further down the curve. ETH dominance sits at just 10.9%, and with 24-hour trading volume at $102 billion, there's no sign of a broad altcoin bid materializing.
The pattern points to a market still digesting macro uncertainty rather than chasing the equity rally. With tariff policy volatile and crypto's correlation to risk assets inconsistent in both directions this year, traders appear to be waiting for a cleaner signal before extending exposure.
