Bitcoin Surges Past $81K, Outperforms Altcoins Amid Mixed Market Signals

Bitcoin's price surged to a high of $81,000 on Tuesday for the first time since mid-May, extending its seven-day gain to approximately 25%. The move followed last week's breakout above $65,000, a weekend pullback to $75,500, and renewed buying at the start of the week. Strong spot buying and improving liquidity supported the advance, while futures positioning remained bullish but restrained.

The market capitalization of Bitcoin climbed to about $1.6 trillion, while dominance increased to 58% on one measure and nearly 60% on another during Tuesday's increasingly volatile trading session. However, sellers have returned aggressively in market orders, with open-interest-adjusted cumulative volume delta turning negative across BTC, ETH, and several other major cryptocurrencies over the past 24 hours.

The options markets tell a similarly mixed story. Bitcoin's 30-day implied volatility fell to 45% from 49% on Friday as volatility sellers returned, yet some traders spent millions positioning for a rapid move above $82,000. Call options dominated parts of the 24-hour volume rankings, while seven-day skews for Bitcoin and Ether remained negative, showing continued demand for downside protection.