Bitcoin logs 2nd quarterly gain as smaller tokens lag by the most since 2020

economictimes.indiatimes.com:

Bitcoin registered a second straight quarterly gain, tightening its grip on crypto markets as smaller tokens nurse losses. The largest digital asset rose 7% in April through June, aided by optimism about increasing demand if BlackRock Inc., Fidelity Investments and others succeed in their efforts to start spot Bitcoin exchange-traded funds in the US. In contrast, smaller tokens have been weighed down by the US Securities and Exchange Commission’s growing list of coins viewed as unregistered securities, a designation that can make those assets harder to trade. Bitcoin doesn’t face a similar overhang because American officials view it as a commodity. An index comprising the bottom half of the top 100 tokens by market value dropped 25% this quarter. The divergence between Bitcoin’s performance over the period and the latter gauge was the widest since the last three months of 2020. That’s even with an end-of-quarterly rally in tokens such as Bitcoin Cash and Litecoin.

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Bitcoin’s dominance of the crypto market “is likely to strengthen amid regulatory uncertainty,” said Caroline Mauron, co-founder of digital-asset derivatives liquidity provider OrBit Markets. “There was a flurry of derivatives activity on the tokens singled out by the SEC lawsuits, with some traders looking to take advantage and pick the bottom, while others attempted to hedge their exposure by buying puts,” Mauron added. Institutional