Bitcoin, Ether Drop as Crypto's Best Month in a Year Ends on Low Note
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- Bitcoin fell 1.31% to $63,870 on July 31, underperforming equities as the CoinDesk 20 Index posted its largest monthly gain since July 2025 despite a late-month pullback.
- Ether dropped 1.40% to $1,890, failing to reclaim $2,000, while BTC and ETH open interest remained flat, signaling trader caution in leveraged markets.
- CoinDesk 20 Index gained 8.7% since June — its best monthly performance in a year — even as Middle East tensions and hawkish Fed commentary dented crypto sentiment late in the month.
- Uniswap (UNI) rose 9.30% to $4.41, driven by Robinhood’s layer-2 integration and surging open interest to 75.80 million tokens, reflecting risk appetite for tokens with institutional backing.
- XRP futures open interest climbed to 2.27 billion tokens, a three-week high, even as price declined from $1.13 to $1.07, a pattern typically confirming a downtrend amid shorting pressure.
- Bitcoin options on Deribit saw $10 billion expire, with the dominant remaining bet being a $60,000 put, indicating traders are positioning for further downside.
Why it matters: The divergence between a strong monthly performance and bearish near-term derivatives signals suggests profit-taking or hedging ahead of August, with $60,000 now the key floor in options markets — a level whose breach could trigger fresh selling. This shift from broad recovery to cautious positioning materially changes the risk calculus for short-term holders.
