The cryptocurrency market experienced a shift in sentiment driven by stronger-than-expected U.S. labor market data. Initial jobless claims came in at 208,000, below market expectations, signaling continued economic resilience. This data reduced investor hopes for imminent interest rate cuts from the Federal Reserve, leading to a swift reaction in Bitcoin's price.
Bitcoin briefly slipped below the $90,000 level, with the move amplified by nearly $480 million in outflows from Bitcoin ETFs. Although BTC quickly recovered to trade above $90,000, the macro data was interpreted as a near-term headwind for risk assets, challenging the narrative of aggressive monetary easing that had previously fueled Bitcoin's rally to record highs.
In this environment, capital began rotating toward selective altcoins and early-stage projects. Tapzi (TAPZI), a new Web3 gaming platform on Binance Smart Chain, drew investor attention with its ongoing presale. The platform focuses on skill-based player-versus-player games like chess and checkers, where users stake TAPZI tokens to compete. The project emphasizes a non-inflationary reward model, gasless gameplay, and a fixed token supply of 5 billion. The presale price is $0.0035, targeting a launch price of $0.01 and an initial market cap of $20 million.
Simultaneously, SUI saw renewed momentum, staging a strong technical rebound. The token gained over 21% in a week, trading near $1.81 with daily volume exceeding $1 billion. Analysts highlighted a rebound from a key demand zone between $1.50 and $1.30, with the move confirming a bullish weekly structure. SUI's market capitalization now approaches $6.9 billion, ranking it among the top-performing Layer-1 blockchains.
Separately, news of a $26.6 million DeFi exploit on the Ethereum network, though not a breach of Ethereum itself, triggered defensive selling. This sent Ethereum (ETH) below $3,100, with nearly $97 million in long positions liquidated. The incident renewed concerns about smart contract risk, contributing to a 1.2% dip in Total Value Locked (TVL) across DeFi.
