The cryptocurrency rally stalled on Thursday as stocks continued to rise.
bitcoin It was trading at $80,945 in Asian time, 0.7% less in 24 hours, but still 6.9% more in the week. Ether (ETH) fell 2% to $2,326, and was the biggest laggard, falling 4.4% to $0.1106 after last week’s rally pushed its 30-day performance into double digits.
XRP and BNB were stable, with XRP at $1.41 and BNB rising 1.3% to $643. Solana rose 6.1% on the week to $88.06.
The pullback came as global stock markets hit new highs on hopes for a ceasefire between the United States and Iran, with reports indicating the two countries are working on a proposal to end the nearly 10-week conflict.
The MSCI All Country World Index advanced 0.3% and the MSCI Asia gauge jumped 1.9% to a record, with Japan’s Nikkei 225 hitting an intraday high. South Korea overtook Canada as the world’s seventh-largest stock market by value, with Softbank rising 18% and TSMC adding 3.3%. Wall Street gauges closed at record highs on Wednesday, with about 80% of S&P 500 companies beating earnings estimates, Bloomberg reported.
Brent crude remained below $102 a barrel on speculation that a U.S.-Iran deal would help resume oil shipments through the Strait of Hormuz, while gold rose for a third straight day to $4,700 an ounce on the Fed’s bets on a rate cut and easing inflation expectations.
FxPro chief market analyst Alex Kuptsikevich said in a note that bitcoin’s next test sits at the 200-day moving average of around $83,300. A moving average smooths out short-term volatility by averaging the price of an asset over a given period, and the 200-day version is among the most watched long-term trend indicators among traders.
“A firm consolidation above this level would be a further sign of bullish dominance,” he wrote, adding that the first such signal came a month ago, when Bitcoin held above the 50-day moving average. He noted that a short-term profit-taking phase is likely to occur as bitcoin approaches $83,000, “allowing some of the profits to be realized.”
The structural context continues to support this measure. Tether’s market cap has grown by $5.9 billion over the past 60 days, according to analyst Darkfost, reversing a $2 billion monthly outflow trend that extended into early 2026. These issuances are seen as a source of new capital entering the cryptocurrency market.
In other developments, Morgan Stanley noted this week that US banks could eventually hold bitcoin on their balance sheets despite current regulatory barriers, with the bank already managing a bitcoin-based ETP and planning to launch crypto spot trading on its wealth platform later this year.
Western Union launched its own stablecoin, USDPT, on Solana to avoid traditional interbank settlement delays.
Elsewhere, BitMine added more than 100,000 ETH for the third consecutive week, bringing its ether reserves to 5.18 million ETH worth approximately $13 billion, or 4.29% of the total supply.
