Bitcoin, the first and largest cryptocurrency by market capitalization, neared its all-time high early Monday as demand from institutional investors and corporate treasury buyers boosted the broader crypto market.
Bitcoin surged nearly 4% to reach a high of $122,319, not far from previous record set of $123,091 in mid-July.
Maartunn, a market observer and on-chain analyst at CryptoQuant, provides a context for Bitcoin’s rise, hinting at what happened behind the scenes as the world’s largest cryptocurrency surged past $122,000.
Coinbase Pump & Dump? 🚨
Price jumped from $118K to $122K earlier today as investors piled in. But the Coinbase Premium Index flipped red right after👀 pic.twitter.com/TFYibz9UUg
— Maartunn (@JA_Maartun) August 11, 2025
As investors piled in, the price of Bitcoin soared from $119,000 to $122,319 on Coinbase early Monday. Maartunn, however, points out a surprising observation: the Coinbase Premium Index flipped red right after Bitcoin surpassed $122,319, hinting at a probable “Coinbase pump and dump” scenario.
The Coinbase Bitcoin Premium Index estimates the percentage difference between the price of Bitcoin on Coinbase Pro (USD pair) and the price on Binance (USDT trading pair).
Bitcoin CME gap?
Aside from a flip in the Coinbase Premium Index, analysts point to a concerning scenario that emerged after Bitcoin surpassed $122,000: a CME gap.
Bitcoin’s climb, which brought it near its $123,000 all-time high, appears to have left a gap in the price of CME futures between Friday’s close and Monday’s open.
CME openBitcoin futures, cash-settled contracts that track the Bitcoin price, closed at $117,430 on Friday, only to open on Monday at $119,000. Bitcoin might seek to fill this gap, which means that the price could retrace to close the difference between the two levels.
Looking ahead, traders will be watching to see what happens next with Bitcoin’s price — whether it retraces or goes ahead to new all-time highs.
Bitcoin is currently trading at $121,596.