Gate Research Institute: The market maintains a defensive fluctuation, with funds rotating towards high-elasticity small-cap sectors

Gate Research Institute's latest market report indicates that in the past two weeks, the global risk appetite has declined due to rising geopolitical tensions and tariff uncertainties, putting overall pressure on the crypto market and maintaining a defensive oscillation. BTC's rebound has weakened, while ETH is even more sluggish, with funds flowing back to main chain assets and high-leverage network funds flowing out. Mainstream assets have yet to form a trend recovery. The market capitalization structure has become more layered, with the top 400 tokens experiencing a slight pullback, while the 401-500 small-cap segment has strengthened against the trend, with funds shifting towards high-elasticity targets for short-term speculation; on-chain gold-like assets have strengthened, reflecting risk aversion, while some previously high Beta themes have significantly retraced. In terms of volume and price, only a few tokens have shown a resonance in volume, while most remain weak with low volume, and the market is in a transitional phase of "mainstream defense, small-cap rotation, and volume-price differentiation."

Against the backdrop of increased market volatility, investors' demand for risk hedging and cross-market allocation has simultaneously strengthened. Gate continues to expand its TradFi footprint, covering diverse contract tracks such as stocks, commodities, indices, foreign exchange, and metals, with its product categories at the forefront of the industry. Recently, the platform's volatility index trading has seen active increases, with BTC and ETH volatility index prices and volumes rising together, indicating an increase in short-term volatility expectations. Gate is providing a more complete multi-asset hedging and strategy tool system by bridging traditional finance and the crypto market.