Bitcoin Post All-Time High Volatility
The crypto market faced heavy turbulence over the weekend, with Bitcoin briefly dipping to $103K and many altcoins suffering drawdowns of over 20%. Despite the shakeout, BTC closed May with its highest ever monthly candle at $104,653, sending a clear message of strength on the higher timeframes. Currently, only the strongest narratives are maintaining their momentum, while the rest are struggling to demonstrate strength. It’s a clear sign we’re still in an indecisive market, but one where bullish structure remains intact, especially with altcoins clinging to key levels and BTC dominance continuing to rise. For now, it's hard to find anything outperforming Bitcoin.
On the fundamental side, there’s no shortage of bullish catalysts. Metaplanet, Japan’s version of MicroStrategy, purchased another 1,088 BTC (worth $114M), bringing their total holdings to 8,888 BTC valued near $930M, and GameStop bought 4,710 BTC worth $512.78M.
Meanwhile, US political sentiment is shifting fast, with VP JD Vance stating: “Crypto and digital assets, particularly Bitcoin, are part of the mainstream economy and here to stay.” And Eric Trump claiming: “Everyone in the world wants Bitcoin” and that “0.1 BTC is going to be worth an absolute fortune.”
Weekly Price Update
Altcoins Holding Key Structure
Here’s an important update on TOTAL3, the chart that tracks the entire crypto market excluding Bitcoin and Ethereum. It’s the cleanest measure of true altcoin strength, and one we’ve been covering closely.
Back in April, we highlighted the breakout above the long-term downtrend, which flipped a clear bearish structure into a bullish one. That previous structure included three lower lows (marked in red), signalling sustained weakness. But the breakout marked a momentum shift in favour of altcoins, and the following weeks brought some decent outperformance.
Fast forward to now, the market tested the $840B support level over the weekend. It wicked below but closed the daily right on it, and has since bounced, preserving structure and forming a new higher low (green). That’s an important signal. It keeps the bullish thesis intact and opens the door for continuation, assuming broader market conditions cooperate.
Still, liquidity remains thin, and altcoin breadth is weak. We’re not seeing many tokens outperform Bitcoin, and there are reasons for that:
- Too many tokens chasing too little capital,
- Over-dilution and constant emissions,
- Little new retail interest outside BTC/ETF narratives.
So while structure looks promising, capital is spread thin and selective. Only strong narratives or tokens with real momentum are holding up. This isn't the kind of environment where everything pumps, only the most resilient names survive the chop.
Ethereum Shows Signs of Strength
Ethereum continues to assert itself, outperforming Bitcoin across multiple fronts this week. The ETH/BTC chart is beginning to flip bullish, showing a strong reversal setup that we’ve been closely monitoring. This relative strength is particularly important given the current market backdrop, with Bitcoin seeing outflows while Ethereum holds firm.
ETH/BTC Chart
Ethereum ETFs have now recorded 11 consecutive days of inflows, a significant sign of institutional confidence. On May 30th alone, ETH ETFs brought in $70.2M, while Bitcoin ETFs saw $616M in outflows. That kind of divergence doesn’t go unnoticed and is a meaningful signal in itself.
Technically, ETH is approaching a key breakout level at $2,800. A decisive move above this could open the door to a push toward the previous highs, especially if this ETF trend persists.
Ethereum Price Chart
Weekly Narrative Performance
It was a tough week across the board, with every major crypto sector in the red. The largest drawdowns came from the high-beta plays: NFT Applications (-11.8%), AI (-11.7%), and Memecoins (-11.2%) all sold off sharply. AI and Memecoins were narratives that had been leading in previous weeks, and their reversal highlights just how fragile short-term sentiment remains.
Even RWA (-8.9%), Layer 2s (-9.2%) and Gaming (-8.6%), which were already lagging, took another step back, reflecting how thin liquidity is and why capital rotation is important when your assets are underperforming.
Bitcoin (-2.2%) and Ethereum (-1.6%) outperformed on a relative basis, holding up much better than the rest of the field. This is due to the lower volatility and institutional interest in these assets. This week showed no clear leadership and no standout sector rotation. Liquidity remains tight, and with capital concentrating in BTC and ETH, altcoin narratives continue to struggle. We are hoping that the renewed strength in ETH will help other altcoins rise, especially within the DeFi sector.
Global Adoption Grows Bigger
On the global front, we're seeing more signs of sovereign-level interest in Bitcoin. Pakistan’s newly appointed Crypto Chief announced plans to build a strategic Bitcoin reserve, signalling a major shift in how emerging economies may begin leveraging BTC as a treasury asset. Meanwhile, in a surprising move, the Russian Central Bank has given the green light for Bitcoin and crypto derivatives for qualified investors, a stark pivot from their previously hardline stance. Both moves reinforce the growing international narrative. Bitcoin is no longer just a speculative asset, it’s being positioned as a strategic reserve and financial instrument on a global stage.
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