Bitcoin struggled to hold recent gains on Thursday as a handful of major altcoins followed suit — but a few niche tokens, led by Decred, bucked the broader slump.
Decred (DCR) led the winners: the governance-focused token jumped 16% in the past 24 hours to $34.58, its highest level since November, according to CoinDesk data. Over the past four weeks DCR is the best-performing top-100 token, up more than 80% since a Feb. 8 tweak to its treasury rules that appears to have spurred renewed interest in the project’s on-chain governance and funding model.
By contrast, bitcoin is under renewed selling pressure, trading just under $67,000 after briefly rallying to $70,000 on Wednesday. BTC is down roughly 2% on the day, and ether (ETH), XRP (XRP), solana (SOL) and the CoinDesk 20 Index (CD20) posted similar losses as traders pulled back from last week’s momentum.
Risk aversion is palpable: market participants are buying downside protection. Deribit reported that ETF holders and corporate treasuries are snapping up put options at the $60,000 strike with six- to 12-month expiries — a sign larger investors are hedging for a possible pullback. Analysts say institutional flows are improving but remain inconclusive, and caution against aggressive positioning. “Long-term investors may consider staggered accumulation (SIP-style allocation) near support zones rather than deploying lump sums at resistance,” Vikram Subburaj, CEO of crypto exchange Giottus.com, told CoinDesk.
In separate news, the DFINITY Foundation floated a major change for Internet Computer (ICP) that could introduce a deflationary dynamic tied to network usage: a proposal to burn 20% of Cloud Computer revenue, while routing the remaining 80% to node operators. The plan would shift rewards from fixed emissions to performance-based incentives, making token supply more responsive to real demand. ICP rose roughly 6% in the past 24 hours to about $2.56 (it briefly traded near $2.70), a move market participants attribute partly to the proposal and partly to a broader surge of interest in AI-linked tokens after blockbuster earnings from Nvidia.
Nvidia’s blowout results and optimistic commentary from CEO Jensen Huang — saying AI is only getting better — reinvigorated investor appetite for projects tied to AI infrastructure. ICP, often positioned as a decentralized alternative for cloud AI services, was among several AI-themed tokens that saw renewed inflows, alongside names such as Render (RENDER) and Bittensor (TAO).
Bottom line: the market is retaining a cautious tone — selective rallies are emerging around governance changes and AI narratives, but many traders are hedging and favoring measured, staged allocations over concentrated bets.
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