The Crypto Minute

⤵️ Today’s Agenda:

• $BTC options traders are eyeing $115K by December, but put premiums show pros are still hedging downside risk.

• The CLARITY Act could move forward soon, with bipartisan support and crypto tax reform becoming key issues in Washington.

• Spot Bitcoin ETFs pulled in nearly $1B over two trading days, showing renewed institutional demand as $BTC reclaimed $80K. 

• Bitcoin dominance climbed above 61%, while altcoins are showing early recovery signs but no full altseason yet. 

• Oracle tokens are back on the radar, especially because prediction markets need reliable data feeds to settle real-world outcomes. 

• Token Terminal helps traders check real protocol activity, including fees, revenue, users and valuation metrics before chasing a narrative.

• And more…

📰 News Recap (April 26 – May 10)

Bitcoin Bulls Eye $115K by December 📈

$BTC bulls are looking toward the Dec. 25 options expiry, where around $6B is on the table. 👀 Crypto options, just like perpetual futures and ETFs, are starting to have a huge impact on the market.

👉 Calls targeting $115K and higher are getting attention after Bitcoin bounced from its $60,130 yearly low.

But this is not just pure moonboy energy. 🐂 Around half of the options open interest is tied to long-shot hedges or neutral strategies, so not every big upside bet means traders are blindly bullish. 🎯

Deribit dominates the December market with $5.5B in Bitcoin options open interest, equal to roughly 92% of the total. 🏦

🐻 Calls are bigger than puts, but bears are also taking extreme shots, with about $1B in puts targeting $55K or lower.

One spicy detail: a $120K call cost $2,202 on May 7, giving traders upside exposure to one Bitcoin above that level. 🎟️

The more cautious signal comes from options skew. ⚠️ Puts are trading at a 9% premium versus comparable calls, which suggests professional traders still want downside protection. 🛡️

So while $115K $BTC is clearly on the board, the data does not show blind optimism. Both bulls and bears are making aggressive bets, and the pros are still keeping one eye on risk. 👁️

CLARITY Act Could Move This Week 🏛️

👉 The most important recent piece of legislation for our market is getting closer! 

The US crypto market structure bill could see a Senate markup as soon as this week, according to Coinbase policy VP Kara Calvert. She said the bill still needs 60 Senate votes, so bipartisan support will be key. 🤝

A new HarrisX poll shows voters want clearer crypto rules. 📊 Around 70% said the US should have already passed clear crypto legislation, while 62% want the US to help set global digital finance rules. 🌍

The bill previously stalled after Coinbase pulled support over concerns around developer protections, stablecoin yield and DeFi rules. 🧩 Calvert also said crypto tax policy remains a major barrier for institutions.

One example? Exchanges may need to send millions of 1099-DA forms, even for tiny transactions like $1 transfers. 😵

So while CLARITY is back in focus, tax reform could be the next big fight. 🔜

Bitcoin ETFs Pull Nearly $1B as $BTC Reclaims $80K 📈

Bitcoin is pushing higher, and ETFs continue to accumulate. 🔎 A few days back, spot Bitcoin ETFs pulled in almost $1B over two trading days as $BTC moved back above $80K. 

The flow came from $532M on Monday (5/4) and another $467.4M on Tuesday (5/5), bringing the two-day total to more than $999M. 💰

That is a pretty loud signal from the ETF side of the market. 📊 After a slower start to the year, regulated Bitcoin products are once again showing strong demand from investors who want $BTC exposure without holding coins directly. 

The momentum also builds on a strong April. 🔥 US spot Bitcoin ETFs pulled in $1.97B during the month, their best monthly result of 2026, according to SoSoValue data.

BlackRock’s IBIT has been one of the main drivers of the latest ETF demand. 🏛️ Recent reports show IBIT accounted for a large share of the week’s inflows, while the broader ETF category crossed $1B in weekly inflows for the first time since January. 🚀

ETF demand is back in the spotlight. 💡

Bitcoin Dominance Climbs Above 61% 🧲

$BTC dominance moved above 61%, its highest level since November 2025, after rising from 58.44% at the start of April. 🧭 Bitcoin has gained around 36% since its Feb. 6 low near $60K, so flows are still favoring the market leader. 🟠

Altcoins are showing early signs of life, but nothing crazy yet. TOTAL3 rose 17% to $765B, while Binance altcoin volume share climbed from 31% in March to 49%. 🔄

The 90-day AltSeason Index recovered to 28.6, still far below the 75+ zone usually linked with stronger altcoin cycles. 📊

🌡️ The average altcoin is now 23.47% below its 200-day SMA, compared with 44.4% earlier in the cycle. 

So yes, alts are waking up a bit. But for now, $BTC is still running the show, and the rotation looks gradual rather than explosive. 🎛️

Alpha Leak 👉 Oracle Tokens

Oracle crypto projects provide the data infrastructure that helps blockchains verify prices, events and real-world outcomes. ⚡These data feeds are especially important for the prediction market economy.

Every market eventually needs a confirmed result. ✅

What Oracles Do 🔍

• They connect blockchains to real-world data. 

• They help settle markets after an event ends. 

• They reduce trust in a single centralized source.

• They can support markets around sports, politics, prices, weather, macro data and more. 

Polymarket already uses UMA’s Optimistic Oracle for decentralized market resolution, which shows how closely prediction markets and oracle infrastructure can be connected. 🔗

Projects to Watch 👇

• Chainlink ($LINK): the biggest oracle name in crypto, widely used for price feeds, data delivery and cross-chain infrastructure.

• UMA ($UMA): especially relevant for prediction markets because of its optimistic oracle model and Polymarket connection.

• Pyth Network ($PYTH): focused on fast financial market data, which fits trading, DeFi and derivatives use cases.

• API3 ($API3): built around first-party oracle data, where data providers can connect more directly to smart contracts.

• Tellor ($TRB): an older decentralized oracle project that still sits in the broader data infrastructure category.

But! ⚠️  Oracle tokens remain a risky niche, especially because data sources, governance and market adoption can be more centralized than they first appear.

Want to find out more? 🤔 Read our guide: Best Crypto Oracle Tokens to Watch in 2026

💡 Trading Tool: Token Terminal 

Token Terminal is for traders who want to look beyond price candles and check whether a crypto project is actually generating activity. 🔍

It tracks onchain fundamentals across blockchains, DeFi protocols and tokenized assets, including metrics like fees and revenue. 🧠

Why You Should Use It 🛠️

If a token is pumping, Token Terminal can help you ask a better question: is there real usage behind the move? 🧪 You don’t want to jump blindly into a trade based on short-term hype, do you?

👉 You can compare protocols by fees, revenue, users, valuation metrics and broader protocol activity before jumping into the chart. 

A few things worth checking: 👇

• Fees: Are users actually paying to use the protocol? 

• Revenue: How much value does the protocol keep from that activity? 

• User activity: Is growth real, or just a short-term spike? 

• Valuation ratios: Does the token look expensive compared with protocol activity? 

It is not a magic buy or sell signal. 🧯 Nevertheless, it can help separate real protocol traction from pure narrative trading, which is especially useful when the market starts chasing the next hot sector. 🔥

Token Terminal’s interface shows a dark market overview dashboard with searchable crypto metrics, sector heatmaps, protocol fees, active users, favorites and recently listed projects.