Cardano jumped ~10% toward $0.30; ETH reclaimed $2,000 and DOT surged 24% to ~$1.60, but traders want BTC above $70K.
Bitcoin’s rebound ran into a familiar ceiling near $70,000, even as the wider crypto market turned decisively green. Bitcoin’s $70K rejection is still the session’s defining signal after the asset dumped to a three-week low of $62,500 and then surged by more than $8,000 to test $70,000 before sellers stepped in. Despite slipping about $2,000 off the peak, BTC remained roughly 4.5% higher on the day, with dominance just above 56%. Cardano outperformed the major alts, climbing almost 10% to near $0.30 and helping lift total market cap to about $2.425 trillion into today’s close.
The setup began with politics and trade headlines. A calmer policy tone is easing near-term uncertainty after investors responded positively to a benign State of the Union address, reducing worries about aggressive new crypto rules or tariff shocks. That relief followed a choppy stretch in which tariff-front developments linked to a U.S. Supreme Court decision and subsequent Trump actions helped stop BTC near $70,000, then pushed it lower. After a dip to $65,600 last Thursday and a weekend move toward $69,000, bitcoin plunged to $64,400 when futures opened, rebounded to $66,400, then sank to $62,500.
Macro crosscurrents also turned supportive, with crypto rallying alongside equities and tech stocks. Risk-on rotation is spilling into digital assets as confidence improves after strong corporate earnings, including a bullish revenue forecast from Nvidia that boosted appetite. On the crypto side, signals pointed to institutional dip-buying: the Coinbase Bitcoin Premium Index flipped positive and ETF inflows topped $257 million. That demand follows an extended sell-off that saw bitcoin fall as much as 50% from its 2025 peak. Even so, the move is being framed as early-stage and flow-dependent, not a fully confirmed trend reversal yet.
Altcoins posted even sharper gains, but leadership remains tethered to bitcoin’s ceiling. Broad-based upside is returning, yet confirmation still hinges on BTC clearing $70K. Ethereum surged about 8% to reclaim $2,000, while XRP jumped 5.5% to retake $1.40. Solana, Dogecoin, BNB, and HYPE logged similar advances and Chainlink rallied 9%. Cardano’s double-digit move pushed it toward $0.30, outpacing other large caps, while DOT led the day with a 24% jump to roughly $1.60. STABLE, UNI, and NEAR followed as total market value recovered about $120 billion from the recent low, as sentiment improved across markets.
