Bitcoin price recovered toward $78,000 as a weaker dollar supported risk assets, while PONS and Arbitrum extended their Robinhood Chain-fueled rallies.
BTC$78,876.00+2.31%
ARB$0.132184+19.16%Bitcoin price recovered toward $78,000 on Thursday as a weaker US dollar supported a broader rebound across risk assets, while PONS and Arbitrum (ARB) extended their Robinhood Chain-fueled rallies.
BTC was trading around $77,890, up 0.76% since midnight UTC, although it remained down 2.89% over the past week.
The recovery came as the dollar index (DXY) fell 0.32% to 99.259. Gold, silver and US equity futures also moved higher, suggesting improving risk appetite across markets.
The broader market rebound was visible across both traditional and crypto assets.
Gold climbed 0.97% to around $4,434, while silver gained 0.88% to $65.94. Nasdaq 100 futures rose 0.2% and S&P 500 futures added 0.15%.
Bitcoin, however, continued to face muted ETF demand.
US spot Bitcoin ETFs recorded $9.3 million in net outflows, marking a second consecutive day of withdrawals. The figure was considerably smaller than Tuesday's $239 million outflow.
The latest flows suggest institutional demand has not fully recovered despite Bitcoin's attempt to reclaim the $78,000 area.
Derivatives data showed a more balanced market compared with the previous day.
The 24-hour long-short taker volume ratio moved toward neutral, while aggregate crypto open interest remained near $136 billion. Trading volume declined 7% to approximately $187 billion.
Bitcoin and Ether futures positioning also remained relatively light, with open interest hovering near recent multi-week lows.
At the same time, major-token futures continued to show positive OI-adjusted cumulative volume deltas, indicating that market buyers were increasingly executing long positions at market prices.
Bitcoin's and Ether's 30-day implied volatility also remained relatively calm, suggesting limited fear in the options market.
Options activity provided a more bullish signal.
On Deribit, higher-strike Bitcoin calls at $82,000 and $84,000 ranked among the most actively traded contracts over the previous 24 hours.
This points to continued demand for upside exposure even as BTC remains below those levels.
However, Bitcoin's seven-day options skew has pulled back from recent highs, indicating that the bullish positioning has moderated somewhat.
For now, derivatives markets appear constructive without showing the kind of extreme leverage that could make the rally particularly vulnerable.
While Bitcoin recovered, Pons (PONS) became the standout altcoin performer.
PONS jumped 30.85% in 24 hours to around $0.50, bringing its weekly gain to an impressive 318.72%.
The token's rally is closely connected to Robinhood Chain activity. PONS is the token of the chain's largest revenue generating launchpad and reportedly directs approximately 80% of protocol revenue toward buying back and burning PONS.
That creates a direct token value-accrual mechanism that distinguishes PONS from many other memecoins and ecosystem tokens benefiting from Robinhood Chain's growth.
The latest move comes after Robinhood Chain's DEX activity reached record levels, with the network becoming an increasingly important driver of attention across its ecosystem.
Related: Pons surges 44% as launchpad revenue hits $550K
Arbitrum (ARB) also extended its rally for a third consecutive session.
ARB gained 25.7% over 24 hours to around $0.13, pushing its market capitalization above $916 million.
Trading activity has also exploded. Daily volume reached approximately $486 million, more than nine times its average of around $50 million during the previous week.
Open interest climbed nearly 10% to approximately 1.58 billion ARB, the highest level on record.
The combination of rising price, spot volume and record open interest makes ARB one of the strongest large-cap altcoin performers in the current Robinhood Chain narrative.
Not every Robinhood Chain-linked token continued higher.
Uniswap (UNI) fell 8.62% over 24 hours to $5.75, making it the day's biggest large-cap loser.
Despite the sharp pullback, UNI remained up 29.11% over the past week.
The reversal followed a strong rally that had pushed Uniswap among the best-performing DeFi assets as activity on Robinhood Chain accelerated.
The correction therefore appears against the backdrop of a broader weekly gain rather than a complete breakdown in the token's recent trend.
Related: Uniswap (UNI) Price Eyes $10 as Trading Volume Surges 45% in a Week
The broader altcoin market remained relatively subdued, with the Altcoin Season Index at 35/100.
Monero (XMR) gained 4.30% to around $515, while Pump.fun (PUMP) rose 4.96%. Lighter (LIT) also advanced, while Bittensor (TAO) gained 2.33% to $222.31.
However, TAO remained well below its level of $247 a week earlier.
The uneven performance shows that the current market is not experiencing a broad-based altcoin rally. Instead, capital is concentrated in specific narratives, particularly Robinhood Chain tokens such as PONS and ARB.
Bitcoin's recovery toward $78,000 provides some relief after Wednesday's selloff, but the market still faces several conflicting signals.
A weaker dollar, positive futures positioning and bullish Bitcoin options flows support the upside case. Meanwhile, continued spot ETF outflows and relatively low BTC open interest suggest that institutional demand has yet to fully return.
The near-term focus remains on whether Bitcoin can sustain its recovery above the $78,000 area.
Meanwhile, PONS and ARB continue to benefit from the growing Robinhood Chain narrative, although their sharp gains also increase the risk of volatility and profit taking.
For now, Bitcoin is recovering while the strongest altcoin flows remain concentrated in Robinhood Chain related tokens.
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