By Omkar Godbole (All times ET unless indicated otherwise)

Investors are still rotating money into altcoins, lifting valuations for ETH, RAY, ENA, MKR and other tokens while leaving bitcoin (BTC) little changed above $100,000.

While the biggest cryptocurrency by market value is just 7% short of hitting a new high, its 30-day options-based implied or expected volatility, represented by Deribit’s DVOL index, is hovering near the lowest level since June 2024.

This type of calm usually precedes big moves. Georgii Verbitskii, a market analyst and founder of TYMIO, a crypto investor app put it best: “Options implied volatility is extremely low, the market doesn’t seem to believe in strong moves, and 1- to 3-month option pricing is still cheap. That kind of complacency often precedes a big move.”

BTC could quickly break through $115,000, Verbitskii said, noting that, “If the liquidity thesis holds — where global liquidity supports bitcoin — we could see that breakout as early as May.” Just to remind you, bitcoin hit a record high around $109,000 in January.

Still, the market faces potential headwinds. For instance, the U.S. Senate has its last opportunity to pass the bipartisan GENIUS Act, a bill introduced in February that calls for issuers to back digital currencies with safe reserves and report them monthly or deal with penalties. The bill was unable to advance in a recent vote. According to the Senate’s rules another failure will kill the bill unless all senators agree to reconsider, according to Tagus Capital.

Further, the U.S. SEC delayed a decision on Tuesday on whether to allow in-kind redemptions for BlackRock’s bitcoin exchange-traded fund while it asks for feedback.

In other news, DeFi Development Corp. purchased 172,670 SOL worth roughly $23.6 million, bringing its total Solana Treasury holdings to over $100 million.

That’s less common, with more companies running to bitcoin: An update from bitcoin-focused company River points out: “Thousands of companies across all sectors are using bitcoin to offset inflation and build up their treasury.” Stay alert!

CoinDesk’s Consensus is taking place in Toronto on May 14-16. Use code DAYBOOK and save 15% on passes.

By Shaurya Malwa

Strategy (MSTR): closed on Tuesday at $421.61 (+4.13%), down 2.29% at $411.96 in pre-market

Coinbase Global (COIN): closed at $256.9 (+23.97%), down 1.38% at $253.36

Galaxy Digital Holdings (GLXY): closed at $29.39 (+3.52%)

MARA Holdings (MARA): closed at $16.37 (+2.63%), down 1.53% at $16.12

Riot Platforms (RIOT): closed at $9.06 (+4.14%), down 1.1% at $8.96

Core Scientific (CORZ): closed at $10.24 (+3.64%), down 0.68% at $10.17

CleanSpark (CLSK): closed at $10 (+3.95%), down 2.4% at $9.76

CoinShares Valkyrie Bitcoin Miners ETF (WGMI): closed at $17.20 (+5.26%)

Semler Scientific (SMLR): closed at $36.70 (+5.34%), down 0.93% at $36.36

Exodus Movement (EXOD): closed at $42.04 (-22.58%), unchanged in pre-market

• Total BTC holdings ~ 1.17 million

• Daily net flows: $13.5 million
• Cumulative net flows: $2.48 billion
• Total ETH holdings ~ 3.44 million

Source: Farside Investors

• The chart shows BTC’s spot volume delta, which measures the net difference between buying and selling trade volumes.
• The metric has flipped positive, confirming that the move above $100,000 is backed by real demand in the spot market.