Bitcoin News Today: Bitcoin Surges Past $124K Amid Profit-Taking; Crypto News Highlights Market Divergence

Bitcoin recently surged to a new record high above $124,000, however, gains have been somewhat restrained as long-term holders opt to take profits. Analysts suggest this has capped the upward momentum beyond the $120,000 mark since mid-July. Despite profit-taking activities, Bitcoin's breakout to these new heights is indicative of its technical strength and its firmly established role as a market anchor.

The cryptocurrency market continues to show a dichotomy, as reflected in the CoinDesk 20 Index, which saw a growth of over 1% in the past 24 hours. This index primarily comprises larger tokens, highlighting bull market activity concentrated at the top. In contrast, the CoinDesk 80 Index, tracking smaller tokens, declined by more than 1%, suggesting that not all segments of the market are experiencing the same upward momentum.

In futures trading, Cardano (ADA) and Solana (SOL) have shown significant increases in open interest among the leading tokens recently. Despite Bitcoin's historical surge past $124K, futures positioning remains subdued, with open interest tallying at 687K BTC. This figure is significantly lower than the previous peak of 742K BTC seen in July.

Additionally, the futures market is seeing a below-10% annualized premium on Bitcoin positions at CME, indicating a cautious stance among market participants. Most tokens, apart from TRX, are exhibiting negative 24-hour open interest-adjusted cumulative volume delta, pointing to a seller-dominated environment and introducing doubts about the sustainability of current price levels.

Certain derivatives markets appear to be overheated. Tokens like FART and FLR have perpetual funding rates exceeding 100%, a scenario signaling crowded bullish activity and the risk of a correction or long squeeze. On the Deribit exchange, Bitcoin options for August and September show a slight preference for call options, driven by continued out-of-the-money call selling by long-term holders. This suggests that the rally hasn't spurred speculative euphoria, though the situation presents differently in Ether options, where the call bias is more evident.

Over-the-counter trading network Paradigm has observed flows highlighting demand for Bitcoin calls alongside short call spreads in Ethereum options due to expire in December. This activity further underscores the cautious optimism pervading the market.

In token-specific developments, the burn rate for Shiba Inu (SHIB) has soared by 48,244% over the past day, leading to the permanent removal of nearly 88 million tokens from circulation. This strategy involves sending coins to an inaccessible wallet, effectively reducing the supply. The largest single burn involved over 69,000 tokens, contributing to a stable price above the $0.000010 support level. Analysts predict that if buying interest persists, SHIB might attempt an ascent towards $0.000020, marking a potential doubling from its current price. Meanwhile, Shibarium, SHIB's layer-2 blockchain, maintains vibrant activity with transactions reaching a cumulative total of 1.51 billion and daily transactions around 4.69 million.

Such burn-driven cuts in supply can theoretically enhance the value of each remaining token, although sustained price improvements hinge on demand meeting or outpacing the rate at which supply contracts.