Bitcoin climbs to $81,500 as tokenization names rally; Bullish, Galaxy and Centrifuge jump

Bitcoin (BTC) extended its rally on Tuesday, trading around $81,512 and touching $81,500 — its highest level since January — as gains broadened beyond major tokens to tokenization-focused plays. The largest cryptocurrency rose about 2% in the past 24 hours and is up more than 35% from early-February lows. Ether (ETH), XRP (XRP) and Solana (SOL) also advanced but trailed bitcoin's pace. Paul Howard, senior director at Wincent, attributed the move to strong demand for spot bitcoin ETFs. He said more than $500 million flowed into spot BTC funds in Monday's session, led by BlackRock and Fidelity products, signaling continued interest from large investors. Howard added that sentiment should remain constructive unless geopolitical conditions worsen materially. The upswing coincided with renewed momentum in tokenization — the effort to bring traditional financial assets on-chain. In equities, Bullish (BLSH) surged 12% after announcing a $4.2 billion acquisition of transfer agent Equiniti, pushing the firm deeper into capital markets infrastructure. Bullish is CoinDesk's owner. Owen Lau, an analyst at Clear Street, said the deal marks a shift beyond trading. "Strategically we see this acquisition as a big push to transform Bullish from a crypto exchange to a capital market infrastructure provider capturing the tokenization trend," Lau said, adding that it could support more recurring revenue and stronger margins over time, with timing the main question. Galaxy Digital (GLXY), which recently unveiled a tokenized cash-management fund with State Street aimed at large investors, gained 3.6%. Other digital-asset infrastructure-linked stocks also moved higher. In tokens, Centrifuge's CFG jumped 15% after Coinbase (COIN) selected the tokenized real-world asset protocol as a partner to help bring ETFs, credit and structured products onto blockchain rails, pointing to rising institutional interest. Coinbase also took an equity stake in Centrifuge. Tokenization has attracted investors as a fast-growing segment at the intersection of blockchain technology and traditional finance. Ripple and BCG project the market for tokenized assets, including stablecoins, could reach $18.9 trillion by 2033. Not all crypto-linked stocks joined the rally. Circle (CRCL) and Coinbase (COIN) fell 34%%, respectively, giving back part of Monday's gains and hinting at rotation within the sector. Broader equities also advanced: the tech-heavy Nasdaq 100 rose 1.2% to a new record, and the S&P 500 gained 0.8% during the session.