LIVE: Nasdaq makes new all-time high as Bitcoin clears $81K and S&P, the Dow struggle to follow

Bitcoin’s latest rise is still being led by larger players, not small traders. Glassnode data shows transfers above $1 million now make up nearly 70% of total on-chain volume, while transfers below $1,000 account for less than 1%.

Another Glassnode tracker, which looks at whether different wallet groups are adding coins or cutting exposure, shows the same split.

Since crypto prices began recovering in early March, retail wallets have mostly stayed inactive, while large institutional wallets have kept building positions.

Glassnode researcher Sean Rose said the rally has been led by larger participants.

Retail sentiment still looks weak in the derivatives market. Bitcoin perpetual futures, which drive most crypto trading volume and are often used heavily by individual traders, have shown stronger demand for short positions.

The funding rate on those contracts has stayed negative, meaning traders are still paying to keep bearish bets open. That points to weak confidence among crypto-native retail traders, even as Bitcoin moves higher.

Part of the hesitation comes from the slow pace of the rally. Bitcoin has improved lately, but it remains far below its $126,000 all-time high, so the fear-of-missing-out rush has not fully returned.

Retail traders sitting out this leg does not mean they are gone for good. But it does show that a fresh run to record highs may need broader participation than the market is seeing right now.

U.S. stock futures moved higher Tuesday night after President Donald Trump said talks with Iran had made “Great Progress” toward a possible agreement.

S&P 500 futures gained 0.3%, while Nasdaq 100 futures rose 0.6%. Dow Jones Industrial Average futures added 79 points, or 0.2%.

Trump said he was pausing Project Freedom, the U.S. plan to help guide ships out of the Strait of Hormuz. In a Truth Social post, Trump said the decision was tied to progress toward a “Complete and Final Agreement” with Iranian representatives.

Advanced Micro Devices jumped 16% in after-hours trading after the chipmaker gave a stronger second-quarter outlook. The company projected about $11.2 billion in revenue and also beat Wall Street’s expectations for both profit and sales in the first quarter.

The late move followed a strong regular session. The S&P 500 rose 0.81%, and the Nasdaq Composite gained 1.03%. Both indexes hit fresh intraday and closing records, while the Dow climbed 356.35 points, or 0.73%.

Earnings also stayed firm. About 85% of S&P 500 companies that have reported so far have beaten profit estimates, while 77% have posted revenue above expectations.

Bitcoin lost the $81,000 level again, roughly 14 hours after finally breaking above it. The pullback cooled part of the rally, but market data still shows traders are watching a possible push toward $90,000.

BTC may have room to climb if short sellers keep getting squeezed. About $7.9 billion in short positions were liquidated in February, with the wipeouts arriving in three waves that ran from February through April.

Funding rates are still near -0.0045, which shows long bets are not heavily crowded. At the same time, pressure on short sellers remains in place. BTC open interest rose 6% to $29 billion, the highest level since Jan. 31, making the market more exposed to sharp price swings.

The chart has also improved after Bitcoin moved above the downward trendline that had blocked rallies through April. The 100-day exponential moving average is now sitting just below the price, giving traders a nearby support level to watch.

BTC is also trading close to $81,000, which lines up with the short-term holder cost basis. That level matters because it keeps many newer buyers in profit and can reduce the urge to sell.

The next upside area sits between $86,000 and $90,000, where sellers previously stopped the rebound. There are fewer major resistance levels before that zone.

On the downside, traders are watching $76,000 to $78,000 as the first demand area. That range is backed by recent trading activity and a daily fair-value gap formed last Friday.

Senate Banking Committee Chairman Tim Scott criticized Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell on Tuesday, saying Powell should not remain on the Fed Board of Governors after his term as chair ends on May 15.

Speaking at the Milken Institute Global Conference, Tim said Powell would be making a “significant mistake” by staying on the board.

He argued that former Fed chairs have usually stepped aside once a new chair takes over, which he said helps avoid clashing views inside the central bank.

Tim said it would be better for both the country and the Federal Reserve if Powell left the board entirely. Powell can legally stay as a governor until 2028, but doing so would stop President Donald Trump from gaining a majority on the board right after Powell’s chair term ends.

The issue comes after months of tension between Powell and Trump over interest rates. Trump has pushed for lower borrowing costs, while Powell has resisted political pressure around Fed policy. Trump has also raised the idea of removing Powell from his role.

The administration has also opened a probe into cost overruns tied to the Fed’s building renovation project and Powell’s related comments to Congress. Tim said in March that he did not think Powell had committed a crime and hoped the criminal investigation would “go away.”

On Tuesday, Tim said Powell’s decision to stay on the board may be a way of “poking the president in the eye a little bit.”

U.S. stocks pushed higher on Tuesday as traders moved back into risk assets, helped by stronger earnings and a sharp pullback in crude.

The Nasdaq Composite rose 1% and touched a new all-time intraday high, while the S&P 500 gained 0.7%. The Dow Jones Industrial Average added 150 points, or 0.3%, but still trailed the broader rally.

The drop in oil prices also helped calm the market. West Texas Intermediate crude fell 3% to just above $102 per barrel, while Brent crude lost 2% and traded above $111.

Bitcoin also joined the rally, rising above $81,000 for the first time since January, surging by 7% to $81,242, its highest level since Jan. 31, before giving back part of the gain and moving around that level during New York trading. Ether and Solana also climbed, though their gains were more limited.

The rally keeps Bitcoin up about 23% since the U.S.-Israeli war on Iran began, showing that crypto has held up despite the fighting and the oil shock that followed.

Sentiment also got a lift from hopes that U.S. lawmakers may reach a deal on a major stablecoin yield provision, which could help broader crypto legislation advance in the Senate.

Crypto-linked stocks rallied with it. Circle closed 19.9% higher, while Coinbase, the main distributor of Circle’s USDC stablecoin, gained 6.1%. BitGo rose 10.3%, and Galaxy Digital added 3.8%.

The stablecoin yield debate matters because rewards on coins such as USDC have been one of the main reasons users keep money in those tokens, much like earning interest on cash in a bank account.

The updated wording is a clear boost for Circle and Coinbase, but it could hurt smaller crypto firms that depend on high-yield deposit offers to bring in users.

Bank of America analyst Ebrahim H. Poonawala said in a Monday note that the CLARITY Act’s handling of the stablecoin yield issue is a net positive across bank sub-sectors. Ebrahim said it should reduce fears about deposit outflows, cut regulatory uncertainty, and give banks a safer way to work with digital-asset infrastructure.