Gushiken Yona
Bitcoin is holding firm around $119,000 on Friday morning, but according to a top investment chief, the real story isn’t the daily price tick—it’s the reason. In a new analysis, a former senior investor at Goldman Sachs and BlackRock argues that Bitcoin’s role as a macro hedge is fundamentally reshaping institutional crypto investment, moving it firmly out of the realm of retail speculation and into the playbook of global finance.
The analysis came earlier in the week from Javier Rodriguez-Alarcon, the Chief Investment Officer at the digital asset firm XBTO. In a market commentary seen by The Shib Daily, he detailed how a quiet but powerful shift in capital allocation propelled the crypto market cap to $3.81 trillion.
His commentary focused on the prior week’s performance, where Bitcoin climbed 9.05% to touch an intraday high of $123,153. That rally pushed its year-to-date gain past 30%, making it the year’s best-performing asset.
By Friday, the price had settled to $119,302, up 1.15% for the day according to CoinMarketCap data. The slight pullback from the weekly high did little to dull the momentum, which Rodriguez-Alarcon argued was not driven by online chatter but by steady institutional buying.
The catalyst, he wrote, was growing fiscal anxiety. He put it plainly: “Bitcoin is behaving like a macro hedge.”
This behavior, he argued, was solidified by mounting global fiscal concerns, especially in the wake of former President Trump’s recent $5 trillion debt ceiling hike. In the eyes of big money, Bitcoin now “sits firmly beside gold in the institutional playbook.”
A Tale of Two Rallies: Ethereum Rises, Altcoins Falter
While Bitcoin found its footing as a safe harbor, Ethereum surged for entirely different reasons. Ether jumped 15.63% last week, outpacing Bitcoin.
But Rodriguez-Alarcon suggested this was a more speculative fever. “ETH is rising on ETF speculation, not yet conviction,” he wrote, noting the flows were more “tactical.”
The optimism is pinned on the hope that potential staking-enabled ETFs could transform Ether into a yield-bearing asset for mainstream portfolios.
So why are smaller tokens being left behind? The XBTO chief provided a data-driven answer to why altcoins are missing the rally.
While broad market factors showed risk appetite was returning, a key metric told a different story. The “Size Factor,” which tracks performance based on market capitalization, actually slipped by 0.28%.
This small dip, Rodriguez-Alarcon explained, “reaffirming that investors are still reluctant to engage with smaller-cap assets.” The big money, it seems, is sticking to the big names.
All Eyes on Washington
With the market’s internal dynamics set, the focus now turns outward. “U.S. policy is the next big catalyst,” Rodriguez-Alarcon said. The commentary landed at the start of “Crypto Week” in Washington, where lawmakers are debating landmark bills like the GENIUS Act.
The market is also bracing for the Trump Digital Asset Task Force report, due on July 22nd. Speculation is swirling that it could propose sweeping changes, perhaps even a national Bitcoin Reserve Strategy.
That will be followed by the Federal Reserve’s meeting on July 30th. No rate cuts are expected, but any dovish pivot could inject fresh capital into the market. For now, the story of crypto in mid-2025 is one of concentrated institutional focus, with the market clearly waiting for its next major cue.
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Yona has no crypto positions and does not hold any crypto assets. This article is provided for informational purposes only and should not be construed as financial advice. The Shib Daily is an official media and publication of the Shiba Inu cryptocurrency project. Readers are encouraged to conduct their own research and consult with a qualified financial adviser before making any investment decisions.
