Tariff volatility exposed Bitcoin’s ongoing identity crisis. Trump’s Greenland tariff threats triggered a violent round-trip in crypto markets, with Bitcoin plunging below $88,000 while gold surged over 5%, highlighting their inverse correlation. Behind the headlines, orderbook depth remained surprisingly stable even as the CME basis collapsed into negative territory for the first time in years, signaling the unwind of institutional carry trades that had anchored demand since ETF launches.

This week’s Data Debrief examines the positioning dynamics beneath the surface of the early January rally. Extraordinary call volume concentration at and around the $100,000 strike, an inverted volatility term structure, and neutral funding rates suggesting balanced leverage.

As digital assets mature and market structure deepens, corporate and institutional crypto holdings are being reclassified from speculative bets to managed treasuries. Instead of sitting passively on balance sheets, these positions are increasingly treated as a distinct asset pool, with dedicated strategies for liquidity, risk, and yield.

Given the current macroeconomic context, we are seeing the emergence of two major risks likely to have a decisive impact.

This week, we’re releasing our latest Asset Ranking. This time the scoring has developed beyond a simple liquidity ranking to encompass a broader range of metrics that truly measure the tradability of an asset. As well as looking at volume, liquidity and market capitalization the new ranking also considers market availability, maturity, and custody scores.

This week, we’re releasing our latest Asset Ranking. This time the scoring has developed beyond a simple liquidity ranking to encompass a broader range of metrics that truly measure the tradability of an asset. As well as looking at volume, liquidity and market capitalization the new ranking also considers market availability, maturity, and custody scores.