[NEW YORK] Bitcoin approached the US$70,000 level, snapping a three-session losing streak as stocks posted modest gains and broader risk sentiment improved ahead of Nvidia’s earnings report.
The largest cryptocurrency climbed as much as 8.5 per cent to roughly US$69,500 in New York trading, marking its biggest intraday gain since Feb 6 as technology stocks led a tentative rebound across risk assets. The bellwether digital asset last reached US$70,000 on Feb 16. Ether rose roughly 12 per cent to around US$2,085.
Smaller tokens also advanced with Solana gaining around 13 per cent, while XRP rose by 7 per cent.
“The move higher likely reflects some dip-buying behaviour after the extended sell-off,” said Caroline Mauron, co-founder of Orbit Markets, adding that Bitcoin reaching US$70,000 would shift the narrative.
A modest relief rally took hold after a benign State of the Union address from the US president. Traders are now turning their focus to Nvidia, which is expected to report earnings after the stock market’s close. As a barometer for the AI-fuelled trade, results from the most valuable company in the world have the power to sway the mood across markets.
An initial uptick in cryptocurrencies came alongside a rise in equities as US President Donald Trump defended his economic record. A Supreme Court decision invalidating his ability to use emergency powers to impose so-called reciprocal tariffs, a key policy initiative, contributed to a plunge in crypto prices earlier this week, after Trump invoked a different authority to say he would impose 15 per cent global tariffs.
The president, who was seen as pro-crypto when he returned to the White House last year, did not mention digital assets in his speech.
US demand has been down across the crypto market, but now investors are seeing a rotation into altcoins, with more of them outstripping Bitcoin, said Daniel Reis-Faria, chief executive officer of ZeroStack.
“Bitcoin trades inside a broader market system now, so when liquidity tightens, volatility increases,” he said, adding that assets such as Solana that generate “real yield will hold up better than assets that were just moving on momentum”.
The industry mood remains cautious. On Feb 5, Bitcoin tumbled some 13 per cent, the most in nearly four years. The token is down nearly 50 per cent from an all-time high of almost US$127,000 reached in early October.
Investors should avoid reading too much into the recent gains “after such a large drift lower”, said Jake Ostrovskis, head of over-the-counter trading at Wintermute, adding that until the token is back over US$75,000, it’s “hard to see many taking it seriously”.
Nearly nine million Bitcoin, 45 per cent of all tokens in circulation, are worth less than what holders paid for them, according to data from researcher Glassnode. That helps explain why every rally is dying on arrival, burned holders sell into any bounce, sapping upward momentum.
“I see parallels between the current situation and what we saw in 2022, when a sharp decline was followed by months of sideways movement, and only then did the market turn to growth and renew its highs, which took just over a year,” Alex Kuptsikevich, chief market analyst at FxPro, said this week.
The crypto market as a whole is also under pressure, with the total market value down more than 20 per cent from one year ago, according to CoinGecko. BLOOMBERG
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