The Weekly Wrap

The Crypto Fear and Greed Index fell to 25, placing the market back in extreme fear.

The total crypto market cap declined 4.46% over the past seven days, sitting at around US$2.53 trillion. ETF flows also turned negative, with Bitcoin ETFs recording roughly US$1 billion in outflows last week, while Ethereum ETFs saw US$255.11 million in outflows.

Overall, it was a weaker week across crypto. Sentiment softened, market cap moved lower, and ETF flows pointed to a more cautious environment.

Goldman Sachs’ latest 13F filing also showed a notable reshuffle in its listed crypto exposure. The bank reportedly exited its XRP and Solana ETF positions in Q1, reduced its Ethereum ETF exposure by around 70%, while keeping Bitcoin exposure relatively stable at around US$715 million.

Interestingly, Goldman also opened a new position in Hyperliquid Strategies, ticker PURR, a digital asset treasury company that primarily accumulates the HYPE token.

Bitcoin vs Gold vs Nasdaq YTD

🟡 Gold: +5.58%

🔵 NASDAQ: +13.92%

🟠 Bitcoin: -12.36%

The risk-on rotation remains visible, with the Nasdaq still the strongest performer of the three at +13.92% year to date.

Gold has cooled from last week’s level but remains positive for the year, while Bitcoin has pulled back again and is now down 12.36% year to date.

After narrowing its drawdown earlier this month, BTC has lost some momentum, showing that it remains more volatile than traditional growth assets.

Source: Tradingview, BTC, GOLD, NASDAQ

Macro:

The U.S. crypto regulation story took another step forward this week, with the Senate Banking Committee advancing the Digital Asset Market CLARITY Act in a 15–9 bipartisan vote.

The bill aims to create clearer rules for digital assets, including when tokens are treated as securities or commodities, and how oversight is split between the SEC and CFTC.

The update was viewed positively by parts of the market because clearer rules could make it easier for institutions to engage with crypto with less regulatory uncertainty. The bill also keeps stablecoins in focus, with proposed restrictions on “earn by holding” yield, while still allowing some rewards linked to actual usage.

There is still a long way to go. The bill needs to be combined with the Senate Agriculture Committee’s version, pass the full Senate, move through the House, and then reach the White House.

For now, the bigger takeaway is that the U.S. is continuing to move toward a more defined digital asset framework. For Australian investors, this remains worth watching because U.S. regulation can influence global crypto liquidity, institutional access and market sentiment.

BTC:

Bitcoin lost some short-term momentum this week, falling out of its recent descending wedge and slipping back toward US$76,909.

Since late March, BTC had been grinding higher in a choppy but steady uptrend. That structure has now weakened, leaving the market at an important point. The next few sessions may help show whether this is a short-term shakeout, or a broader loss of momentum after the recent move higher.

Futures positioning also shows the market is still rebuilding after a larger shakeout. CME Bitcoin futures open interest has fallen sharply from its late-2024 and early-2025 peak of around US$20.9 billion, and was sitting closer to US$9.2 billion on May 11.

That suggests the market is not as crowded with leverage as it was earlier in the cycle. Some positioning has started to return, but it still looks more like a cautious rebuild than a fully risk-on move.

For now, BTC remains in a wait-and-see zone. Price action will need to show whether this is a short-term flush or the start of a broader slowdown in momentum.

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ETH: 

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ALTCOINS:

Real World Assets (RWA): +0.04%

Decentralized Finance (DeFi): -3.72%

Gaming (GameFi): -6.81%

Meme: -8.82%

Artificial Intelligence (AI): -8.85%

Altcoins cooled off sharply this week after last week’s strong rally. AI went from leading the market to being one of the weakest categories, falling 8.85%, while meme coins also pulled back 8.82%.

Real World Assets were the standout, managing to stay slightly positive at +0.04%. DeFi and Gaming both finished the week in the red.

Source: Coingecko categories

It is still not altcoin season, with the Altcoin Season Index dropping to 27 from last week’s 33. That shows Bitcoin continues to dominate market attention, while altcoins are still struggling to hold consistent momentum.

One way to read short-term market conditions is by looking at RSI heatmaps. These can highlight when assets are showing stretched momentum in either direction, but they should be treated as a market signal rather than a standalone decision-making tool.

Short-term trading has been difficult, with sharp swings in both directions catching out traders on both sides of the market.

The BONK chart below is a good example of what has happened across several of the recent top performers. After a strong move higher, price quickly retraced back toward its mean, showing how fast momentum can unwind when the broader market cools.

It is a reminder that in choppy conditions, the biggest movers can also be the quickest to give back gains.

Tokenised Assets

The SEC is reportedly preparing an “innovation exemption” that could allow tokenised versions of U.S. stocks to trade on blockchain networks.

In simple terms, this could allow digital versions of public equities to be traded through crypto-style infrastructure, potentially opening the door to more 24/7 market access and faster settlement.

This is still early and not final policy, but it fits a much bigger theme: traditional finance is moving closer to on-chain rails.

The SEC has already been discussing a framework for tokenised securities, with Chair Paul Atkins previously saying an innovation exemption could give firms a more compliant pathway to test on-chain trading.

The important caveat is that not all tokenised stocks are the same. Some may track the price of shares without giving holders traditional rights such as voting or dividends, so investor protection and product structure will matter.

THIS WEEKS INSIGHTS

This week’s Insights article looks at how Australia’s new Budget could change the way crypto investors build wealth.

The big shift is the proposed move away from the current 50% CGT discount toward an inflation-indexed system from 1 July 2027. For investors using crypto, shares or ETFs to build long-term wealth, the after-tax outcome could start to look very different.

Read the full article here:\ https://www.cointree.com/news/australia-s-new-budget-could-change-how-crypto-investors-build-wealth/