Bitcoin and the broader crypto market came on the defensive on Friday, with most major tokens posting losses over the past 24 hours as traders continued to de-risk along with stocks following Nvidia’s earnings-driven pullback.
Bitcoin was trading around $67,766 at the time of writing, down 1.5% on the day but still holding on to a 0.6% gain on the week. Ethereum mirrored the move, falling 1.5% in 24 hours to trade just above $2,047. Both remain stuck in a tight range that has defined price action since the Feb. 5 crash, with Wednesday’s advance toward $70,000 marking the upper bound and this week’s lows testing the middle.
The selling pressure, however, looks more like a leverage explosion than a structural collapse. Hourly returns were generally in the green on Friday morning, meaning most of the decline occurred overnight and buyers have quietly returned to these levels.
“What we are seeing now is Bitcoin trading with the broader venture market,” said Daniel Reis-Faria, CEO of ZeroStack. “The Nasdaq fell after Nvidia’s earnings, and cryptocurrencies followed. Bitcoin approached $70,000 pretty quickly, and when stock momentum stalls, that quick money comes out just as quickly in Bitcoin.”
Reis-Faria sees the measure as a cleaning of positioning rather than a change in trend. “A lot of the leverage came back into the system with that bullish momentum, and when stocks start selling off, cryptocurrencies are often the first place people de-risk. Volatility is high because liquidity is tight across the board.”
Zoom out to the weekly chart and the picture looks considerably healthier. Cardano led the major assets with a 7% gain in seven days. Solana added 5.5%, Ethereum 4.8% and BNB 4.3%, all outperforming Bitcoin’s comparatively modest weekly performance and suggesting that appetite for altcoins remains intact beneath the surface noise.
XRP was the notable exception, down 3.7% in 24 hours and the only major asset in the red over 7 days at -0.1%. The underperformance stands out given that most altcoins absorbed the same macroeconomic headwinds without giving back weekly gains.
The broader macroeconomic context adds context. Asian stocks are on track to post their best February since 1998, led by South Korean tech names that are up about 20% this month as investors rotated into investments in artificial intelligence infrastructure.
That rally has drawn capital away from U.S. markets, and the MSCI Asia Pacific Index will outperform the S&P 500 for the third straight month.
For cryptocurrencies, the process is the same as it has been for weeks. “We’re still in the same range we were in,” Reis-Faria said. “Until we see consistent new demand, these moves will continue to occur. Bitcoin is traded as a macro asset. When stocks pull back, Bitcoin pulls back.”
