CoinDesk
Bitcoin climbed to $81,500 on Tuesday, extending a rally that has now lifted the largest cryptocurrency more than 35% off its early February lows. Ether, XRP and Solana all advanced over the past 24 hours, though they lagged BTC's pace. The move was anchored by sustained spot-ETF demand: more than $500 million flowed into US spot bitcoin funds on the Monday session, led by BlackRock's and Fidelity's products, according to Paul Howard, senior director at Wincent.
The next leg of the rally concentrated in tokenization. Bullish (BLSH) surged 12% after announcing a $4.2 billion acquisition of transfer agent Equiniti — a deal Clear Street analyst Owen Lau framed as "a big push to transform Bullish from a crypto exchange to a capital market infrastructure provider capturing the tokenization trend." Galaxy Digital (GLXY) added 3.6% after unveiling a tokenized cash-management fund with State Street, while Centrifuge's native CFG token jumped 15% on news that Coinbase had tapped the protocol as a partner for blockchain-rail ETFs, credit and structured products — and taken an equity stake in the project.
Why it matters
The bid is broadening. Bitcoin's price action is still the headline, but the marginal money rotating in is reading the same thesis through equity and token rails: tokenization — bringing traditional financial assets onchain — is being treated by institutions as a real capex theme, not a marketing slide. Ripple and BCG project the tokenized-asset market, stablecoins included, reaches $18.9 trillion by 2033. Even with that horizon discount, Tuesday's tape treated it as a near-term flow story.
Howard's read is that the constructive stance holds "unless geopolitical conditions deteriorate materially." Not all names participated: Circle and Coinbase slipped 3-4%, paring Monday's gains — a sign of rotation within the sector rather than a reversal. The Nasdaq 100 hit a fresh record (up 1.2%) and the S&P 500 added 0.8%, so the move is not a crypto-only trade; it's a risk-on session that crypto is leading.
Market impact
The structural read is the institutional plumbing layer widening.
Frequently asked questions
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Why did Bitcoin push to $81,500 on Tuesday?
Spot BTC ETF demand did the heavy lifting — more than $500M flowed into US spot bitcoin funds on the Monday session, led by BlackRock's and Fidelity's products, per Wincent's Paul Howard. ETH, XRP and SOL also advanced but lagged BTC's pace.
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What is the tokenization trade behind the Bullish, Galaxy and CFG moves?
It's the same thesis expressed across equity and token rails: bringing traditional financial assets onchain. Bullish announced a $4.2B acquisition of transfer agent Equiniti, Galaxy unveiled a tokenized cash-management fund with State Street, and Coinbase tapped Centrifuge as a partner for blockchain-rail ETFs and…
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How big could the tokenized-asset market get?
Ripple and BCG project the tokenized-asset market, stablecoins included, reaches $18.9 trillion by 2033. Even with a long-horizon discount, Tuesday's tape treated tokenization as a near-term flow story rather than a distant thesis.
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Did every crypto stock participate in the rally?
No — Circle (CRCL) and Coinbase (COIN) slipped 3-4%, paring Monday's gains. That points to rotation within the sector rather than a broad reversal, with the marginal bid concentrating in names tied to tokenization infrastructure.
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What could break the rally?
Wincent's Paul Howard flagged geopolitics as the binary risk — his base case is the constructive stance holds "unless geopolitical conditions deteriorate materially." On the crypto-specific side, watch whether spot BTC ETF inflows sustain above the recent $500M-a-day cadence and whether tokenization-adjacent tokens…
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