Bitcoin and the broader crypto market entered Friday on the back foot, with most major tokens losing over the past 24 hours as traders continued to reduce 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 clinging to a 0.6% gain for 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 February 5 crash, with Wednesday’s push toward $70,000 marking the upper limit and this week’s lows testing the middle.
However, the selling pressure looks more like a leverage flush than a structural collapse. Hourly returns across the board were in the green on Friday morning, meaning the bulk of the pullback happened overnight and buyers have quietly stepped back at those levels.
“What you’re seeing right now is Bitcoin trading with the broader risk market,” said Daniel Reis-Faria, CEO of ZeroStack. “Nasdaq fell after Nvidia earnings, and crypto followed suit. Bitcoin moved closer to $70,000 pretty quickly, and when momentum in stocks stalls, the fast money comes off just as quickly in Bitcoin.”
Reis-Faria sees the move as a positioning clean-up rather than a trend reversal. “A lot of leverage came back into the system on that push higher, and when stocks start selling off, crypto is usually the first place people take the risk. Volatility is elevated because liquidity is tight across the board.”
Zoom out to the weekly chart and the picture looks considerably healthier. Cardano led major assets with a seven-day gain of 7%. Solana added 5.5%, Ethereum 4.8% and BNB 4.3%, all above Bitcoin’s relatively modest weekly returns and suggesting that altcoin appetite remains intact beneath the surface noise.
XRP was the notable exception, down 3.7% in 24 hours and the only top asset in the red on a 7-day basis at -0.1%. The underperformance stands out as most altcoins absorbed the same macro headwind without giving back weekly gains.
The wider macro background adds context. Asian stocks are on course for their best February since 1998, led by South Korean tech names that rose about 20% this month as investors rotated into AI infrastructure plays.
That rally has drawn capital away from US markets, with the MSCI Asia Pacific Index set to outperform the S&P 500 for a third straight month.
For crypto, the review is the same as it has been for several weeks. “We’re still in the same area that we’ve been in,” Reis-Faria said. “Until we see consistent new demand, these moves will continue to happen. Bitcoin trades like a macro asset. When stocks pull back, Bitcoin pulls back.”
