Leading cryptocurrencies held steady on Thursday, with Bitcoin slipping below $63,000 amid declining trading volume, while US stocks climbed to record highs driven by softer-than-expected producer inflation data.

Bitcoin (CRYPTO: BTC) declined 0.10% to $63,412.53 at 9:20 pm EDT, failing to break above the $64,000 resistance level. The asset’s attempt to reclaim higher ground fizzled as 24-hour trading volume contracted by 19%. In contrast, Ethereum (CRYPTO: ETH) rose 0.32% to $1,884.10, and XRP (CRYPTO: XRP) gained 0.68% to $1.01. Solana (CRYPTO: SOL) and Dogecoin (CRYPTO: DOGE) also posted modest gains of 0.33% and 0.32%, respectively.

Market Liquidity and Derivatives

Despite the price stagnation in Bitcoin, derivatives markets showed mixed signals. Nearly $212 million was liquidated from the cryptocurrency market in the last 24 hours, with long and short positions broadly balanced according to Coinglass data. Bitcoin’s open interest slid 0.68% over the same period. Notably, retail and whale derivatives traders on Binance remained net long on Bitcoin despite the price decline.

The global cryptocurrency market capitalization stood at $2.17 trillion, declining 0.47% from the previous day. Among smaller caps, AKEDO (AKE) led gains with a 70.83% surge to $0.006921, followed by Humanity (H) up 14.93% and ether.fi (ETHFI) up 14.76%.

Equities Rally on Inflation Data

US equity markets rallied sharply on Thursday. The S&P 500 climbed 0.65% to close at a record high of 7,798.99. The Nasdaq Composite added 0.81% to settle at 26,803.03, while the Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 0.13%, or 69.72 points, to end at 53,839.99.

The rally followed the release of the Producer Price Index, which was unchanged in July, falling short of economists’ forecast for a 0.2% monthly increase. Core PPI, which strips out food and energy, rose 0.2% against the 0.3% expected. This data arrived a day after the July Consumer Price Index rose 3.4% year-on-year, matching expectations, while core inflation eased to 2.5%.

Consequently, the odds of an interest rate hike in September fell from 40.6% to 34.8%, according to the CME Fedwatch tool. Crypto-related equities also benefited from the broader market sentiment, with Strategy Inc. (NASDAQ: MSTR) closing up 2.39% and Bitmine Immersion Technologies Inc. (NYSE: BMNR) rising 2.24%.

What the Numbers Show

On-chain analytics reveal a divergence between price action and retail sentiment. Blockchain analytics firm CryptoQuant highlighted that Bitcoin was rejected at the Trader On-chain Realized Price of $65,600, a level that has consistently capped rebounds in recent months. The Realized Price represents the average acquisition cost basis of all coins in circulation.

Simultaneously, Santiment noted rising social mentions of terms such as "dead," "dying," and "over" tied to cryptocurrency. This surge in negative sentiment language suggests retail patience is breaking, a pattern often observed when prices feel stuck despite key support levels holding. Santiment indicated that such fear-driven chatter can create attractive setups for patient buyers when stronger hands continue accumulating.

T. Rowe Price crypto head Blue Macellari argued on Thursday that artificial intelligence equities have captured the marginal cryptocurrency buyer, diverting capital away from digital assets like Bitcoin (CRYPTO: BTC) and Solana (CRYPTO: SOL). Speaking on Raoul Pal’s The Journeyman podcast, Macellari noted that investors previously pursuing high-growth theses in crypto are rotating funds into AI stocks where returns appear faster and more immediate.

Capital Rotation and Market Sentiment

Macellari identified two primary drivers for the recent weakness in crypto markets. First, she pointed to a "sugar high" wearing off after an unprecedented period of positive news from the launch of the first Bitcoin ETFs through last summer. This period featured a new administration, a new SEC, fresh regulatory guidance, and waves of institutional adoption announcements that kept sentiment hot.

Second, she acknowledged that the pace of such momentum was impossible to sustain, leading to a market digesting the slowdown since October. Macellari admitted the October crash itself remains unclear, stating she has not heard an explanation that fully resolves the event's cause.

Institutional Adoption Accelerates

Despite the near-term headwinds, Macellari remains bullish on the broader trajectory of cryptocurrency, citing accelerating demand from large corporate boards. She reported conducting 15 to 20 board presentations on tokenization and stablecoins in the past six months, a significant increase from zero prior to this period.

She highlighted several structural shifts supporting long-term growth:

• The total addressable market for crypto has expanded from 8 billion people to effectively infinite as AI agents begin transacting on-chain.
• Stablecoins are growing rapidly, and the real-world asset bucket is building.
• Infrastructure for 24/7 equity trading on-chain is being established.

Macellari noted that while institutions are present and infrastructure is in place, the speed of execution remains the missing piece.

Investment Opportunities

Macellari identified on-chain finance as the clearest current opportunity, covering tokenization, payments, and chains built for institutional use. She specifically highlighted Hyperliquid, measured by Hyperliquid Strategies Inc (NASDAQ: PURR), as generating significant inbound interest from traditional hedge fund managers and CIOs who are only now beginning to pay attention.