Market maker Wintermute reports a shift in market sentiment from anticipating rate cuts to considering rate hikes, as inflation pressures re-emerge. Bitcoin briefly surpassed $82,000, driven by momentum from Clarity Act developments, before retreating to approximately $78,000, marking a 5.7% decline over the week. Ethereum also saw a significant drop of 10.2%, with the ETH/BTC ratio falling to about 0.0275. Wintermute attributes last week's Bitcoin surge more to leverage and short-covering rather than spot market confirmation. The firm identifies $76,000–$78,000 as critical near-term support levels and cautions that rising yields and accelerating inflation could challenge the sustainability of institutional interest in Bitcoin.