Digital asset markets witnessed a notable structural shift on Thursday as Bitcoin demand across both spot and perpetual futures trading venues turned positive for the first time since its October 2025 record high. Over the past 24 hours, the premier cryptocurrency successfully mounted a decisive price recovery, surging past the critical $70,000 psychological threshold. This upward trajectory has been strongly supported by renewed buying interest from both institutional entities and retail market participants across global exchanges.
Spot and Perpetual Futures Markets Register Positive Demand Shift
The transition in underlying market dynamics represents a major inflection point after extended periods of price consolidation and macro uncertainty. According to analysis provided by CryptoQuant founder Ki Young Ju on Thursday, the expansion in purchasing demand is visible simultaneously in physical spot markets and derivative perpetual futures contracts. In cryptocurrency market architecture, spot trading reflects immediate asset ownership and organic spot accumulation, whereas perpetual futures derivative contracts without an expiration date measure speculative appetite and leveraged market positioning.
The simultaneous shift into positive territory across both market segments indicates that investors are not merely engaging in derivative hedging, but are actively acquiring physical Bitcoin while taking on leveraged long exposure. Ki Young Ju identified the core driver of this sudden price recovery as a massive wave of long positions opened by seasoned industry veterans, frequently referred to within the trading community as "Crypto OGs." These experienced market participants established heavy long exposures near what appears to have been a localized market bottom on major exchanges during the prior week.
While acknowledging that the overall scale of current demand expansion remains relatively modest compared to previous macro expansion phases, Ki Young Ju emphasized its broader strategic significance for the market's medium-term path. He noted that if this positive demand structure can be maintained consistently over the course of another month, it would provide a solid analytical foundation to conclude that the preceding bear market phase has officially concluded and that a fresh bull market cycle has commenced.
Record Profit-Side UTXO Movements Recorded on Binance
In tandem with the recovery observed across spot and futures channels, key blockchain metrics indicate heightened activity among short-term market participants. CryptoQuant contributor MorenoDV highlighted a significant structural development on Binance, where Bitcoin recorded its largest profit-side Unspent Transaction Output (UTXO) movement in history on Thursday.
In Bitcoin's underlying accounting system, an Unspent Transaction Output (UTXO) represents a specific discrete chunk of cryptocurrency received by an address that remains unspent and available to be spent in future transactions. When coins move on-chain while in a profitable state relative to the price at which they were acquired, it indicates that holders are actively transferring, rebalancing, or selling assets to lock in gains or exit existing market positions. The volume of profitable UTXO activity on Binance reached an unprecedented historical extreme, surpassing the previous record established around Bitcoin's last major market peak.
MorenoDV observed that this surge in on-chain coin movements is occurring at a pivotal moment, precisely as Bitcoin's spot price approaches the average cost basis of short-term market participants. He highlighted that "Bitcoin just recorded its largest profit-side UTXO movement ever on Binance, right where trapped buyers finally have a chance to exit."
Analyzing Short-Term Holder Realized Price and SOPR Dynamics
The structural context surrounding this latest UTXO spike differs fundamentally from earlier historical peaks. During the previous record event, Bitcoin was trading near all-time highs, meaning market participants possessed substantial unrealized paper profits and operated under powerful financial incentives to take profit directly into market strength. In sharp contrast, the current wave of activity is unfolding while Bitcoin recovers from an extended drawdown period and moves toward the aggregate acquisition price of recent market entrants.
This critical price level is known as the Short-Term Holder (STH) realized price, which measures the aggregate cost basis of coins moved within the preceding 155-day window. MorenoDV described this metric as one of the most vital psychological thresholds in cryptocurrency market analysis. As spot prices recover toward the STH realized price, market participants who bought near higher price points and remained underwater throughout the downturn are given a clear opportunity to liquidate their holdings at breakeven without incurring severe net financial losses.
The record increase in profitable UTXO transfers demonstrates that the recent price recovery is already triggering an immediate supply response from these highly reactive market cohorts. MorenoDV clarified that a UTXO movement does not automatically imply that every single transferred coin was immediately dumped on the open spot market. However, it unequivocally demonstrates elevated sell-side sensitivity exactly at the price zone where recent buyers have strong financial motivation to de-risk their portfolios.
To confirm a sustained market breakout, analysts are closely monitoring additional technical and on-chain verification metrics. A sustained reclaim of the Short-Term Holder Realized Price level, coupled with the Spent Output Profit Ratio (SOPR) remaining consistently above 1 and continuing improvement in spot demand, would provide concrete evidence that buyers possess sufficient capital to absorb the breakeven supply being released onto exchanges.
Ethereum Derivatives Capital Expands Following Leverage Flush
The positive momentum generated by Bitcoin's price surge has spread across the broader altcoin sector, with Ethereum (ETH) extending its upward movement on Thursday. Capital has steadily flowed back into the ETH derivatives market following a recent leverage flush that cleared out over-leveraged positions across major derivative exchanges.
Ethereum's open interest which measures the total monetary value of outstanding, unsettled derivative contracts across trading venues experienced a sharp expansion over recent hours. Open interest grew by 270,000 ETH, driving the total open interest to 13.2 million ETH. Simultaneously, Ethereum's spot valuation climbed above the $2,200 price mark, indicating robust speculative and hedging demand for the market's leading smart contract platform.
Ripple and Dogecoin Rally as Crypto Fear & Greed Index Enters Greed Zone
Other prominent altcoins also recorded solid single-day price gains amid rising market confidence. Ripple (XRP), the cross-border remittance token, maintained strong bullish control as its price action extended above $1.16 on Thursday. Since Monday, Ripple has surged by more than 20%, reflecting a broader expansion in risk-on market sentiment among cryptocurrency investors.
Dogecoin (DOGE) built upon its positive trajectory for a second consecutive trading session, trading at $0.078 on Thursday. The popular meme coin advanced by more than 3% during the day, benefiting from the favorable market tailwinds created by Bitcoin rallying past $70,000 and Ethereum climbing above $2,200.
This widespread market strength is mirrored in key sentiment indicators. The cryptocurrency Fear & Greed Index moved firmly into "Greed" territory on Thursday, reaching a score of 62 out of 100. This represents a substantial increase from the previous day's reading of 46, which had reflected neutral investor sentiment. The rapid shift highlights growing investor optimism across global digital asset trading platforms.
