Bitcoin Hovers Above $108,800 Amid Market Caution, CoinDesk 20 Index Up 1.7%

Bitcoin has been trading near its highs, hovering above $108,800, but the market lacks the conviction needed to push it decisively higher. Observers note that the market is currently in a state of wait-and-see, with no dominant headlines driving significant movement. The CoinDesk 20 index, which measures the performance of the largest digital assets, is above 3,100, up 1.7%.

According to a recent report by Glassnode, spot volumes for Bitcoin continue to linger below their usual statistical bands, and ETF flows have contracted sharply from recent highs. Institutional investors appear hesitant despite the climbing unrealized gains shown in elevated ETF Market Value to Realized Value (MVRV) ratios. Wintermute describes this environment as a "barbell market," with renewed enthusiasm in high-beta assets like memecoins and the stability of established large-cap tokens. Last year's narrative darlings, notably AI and DePIN tokens, have lost investor attention, indicating that traders are rotating into memecoins or staying in Bitcoin and Ethereum, which are seen as battle-tested and secure.

With global equities largely shrugging off geopolitical uncertainties, Bitcoin's hesitancy underscores lingering caution among traders. The market awaits clearer signals before breaking decisively higher, suggesting that things are likely to remain rangebound until that changes. Bitcoin-only VC firm Ego Death Capital has closed a $100 million second fund aimed at backing projects that treat Bitcoin as infrastructure, not a speculative trade. The fund will target Series A rounds between $3 million and $8 million for startups solving real-world problems using Bitcoin’s base layer or its scaling solutions. General partner Lyn Alden emphasized that the fund is investing in businesses that treat Bitcoin as infrastructure, something to build on, not bet on. Ego’s existing portfolio includes Relai, a self-custody app, and Roxom, a securities exchange built directly on Bitcoin rails.

At a time when multichain VCs are chasing yield on every new L2 and L3, Ego’s thesis is a bet on simplicity and durability: Bitcoin’s dominance remains above 60%, and the fund aims to capitalize on its staying power. The message to allocators is to ignore the hype and back the rails that last. A federal judge has ruled that the U.S. government's sanctions against Tornado Cash, which were imposed in 2022 and later overturned, cannot be discussed in the upcoming criminal trial of developer Roman Storm. Judge Katherine Polk Failla said allowing the jury to hear about the now-invalid sanctions would require "mental gymnastics" and risk confusing the core legal issues at trial. The sanctions were originally imposed by the U.S. Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) over alleged use of the mixer by North Korea’s Lazarus Group, but were struck down earlier this year in a separate case, Van Loon v. Treasury.

Storm faces multiple criminal charges related to his role in building Tornado Cash, a privacy tool that allows users to obscure the origin of crypto transactions. Prosecutors allege that he profited substantially from the project, citing evidence of multi-million-dollar TORN token sales and real estate purchases. Judge Failla also ruled that evidence obtained from fellow Tornado Cash developer Alexey Pertsev’s phone can be admitted at trial, despite objections from Storm’s legal team who argued the material was cherry-picked and not independently verifiable. Although Storm is free to speak about his belief in privacy and civil liberties, the judge said he will not be allowed to frame his actions as protected under the First Amendment. The court drew a distinction between personal beliefs and legal defenses. A final pre-trial hearing is scheduled for Friday, with the trial slated to begin on June 14 and expected to last four weeks. The outcome of the case is likely to set an important precedent for how U.S. courts treat developers of open-source privacy tools.