Bitcoin and the broader crypto market entered a downturn on Friday, with most major tokens posting losses over the past 24 hours as traders continued to de-risk alongside stocks following Nvidia’s profit-driven pullback.
Bitcoin was trading around $67,766 at the time of writing, down 1.5% on the day but still clinging to a 0.6% gain on the week. Ethereum followed this trend, 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 push toward $70,000 marking the upper limit and this week’s lows testing the middle.
The selling pressure, however, looks more like leverage than a structural break. Hourly yields across the board were green Friday morning, meaning most of the decline occurred overnight and buyers have quietly returned to these levels.
“What you’re seeing right now is Bitcoin trading with the broader venture market,” said Daniel Reis-Faria, CEO of ZeroStack. “The Nasdaq fell after Nvidia’s earnings, and crypto followed. Bitcoin moved toward $70,000 pretty quickly, and when the momentum in stocks stops, that quick money retreats back into Bitcoin just as quickly.”
Reis-Faria sees the move as a positioning clean-up rather than a trend reversal. “A lot of leverage has come back into the system following this push higher, and when stocks start to sell off, crypto is usually the first place people de-risk. Volatility is high because liquidity is tight across the board.”
Zoom out on the weekly chart and the picture looks significantly better. Cardano led major assets with a seven-day gain of 7%. Solana added 5.5%, Ethereum 4.8% and BNB 4.3%, all surpassing Bitcoin’s relatively modest weekly return and suggesting that appetite for the altcoin remains intact beneath the surface noise.
XRP was the notable exception, down 3.7% in 24 hours and the single largest asset in the red over 7 days at -0.1%. The underperformance is striking given that most altcoins absorbed the same macroeconomic headwinds without giving back weekly gains.
The broader macroeconomic backdrop adds context. Asian stocks are on track for their best February since 1998, led by South Korean tech stocks up about 20% this month as investors turn to AI infrastructure.
This rally has diverted capital away from US markets, with the MSCI Asia-Pacific index expected to outperform the S&P 500 for a third consecutive month.
For crypto, the throughline has been the same for weeks. “We are still in the same range,” Reis-Faria said. “Until we see consistent new demand, these moves will continue to occur. Bitcoin trades as a macro asset. When stocks pull back, Bitcoin pulls back.”
