Cardano’s ADA led losses among crypto majors on Thursday as bitcoin’s weakness showed no sign of stopping, putting any chance of a rally in altcoins on hold.

Bitcoin (BTC) fell to nearly $93,000 on Wednesday as fresh economic data sent US Treasuries soaring, leading to a drop in stocks. The latest report from the Institute for Supply Management (ISM) on US service providers was stronger than expected, and the price-paid measure reached its highest point since early 2023.

This caused other majors to go downhill. Token prices have been flat over the past week as traders took advantage of a short-lived rally earlier this week, with ADA, Solana’s SOL, BNB Chain (BNB) and ether (ETH) all down nearly 10% since Monday.

The broader CoinDesk 20 (CD20), a floating index that tracks the largest tokens, is down 2.87% in the past 24 hours, a further drop after Wednesday’s 7% plunge.

Meanwhile, options on the broad-based S&P 500 now reflect more downside risk than they did a year ago — which could further dampen the chances of a rise in risk assets, including bitcoin, as traders favor safer investments such as bonds.

The defensive positioning in stocks may stem from concerns that President-elect Donald Trump’s inauguration on Jan. 20 could be a “sell-the-news” event, according to CoinDesk’s Omkar Godbole. Risk-taking has risen across financial markets in the past two months in anticipation of pro-business and pro-economic reforms under the incoming presidency of Donald Trump, and profit-taking cannot be ruled out.

Trump’s inauguration on January 20 is widely expected to change crypto regulations and even a strategic bitcoin reserve in the coming months, both months that provide legs for the next rally.

That’s a view echoed by Singapore-based QCP Capital, which says traders should keep an eye on new US economic data on Friday before positioning further.

“All eyes are on this week’s FOMC and NFP releases, which are expected to further influence Bitcoin’s price trajectory,” QCP said in a Thursday broadcast on Telegram. “With market expectations building, we think Bitcoin’s pullback is just a pause, setting the stage for a bullish rally as Trump’s inauguration fuels optimism.”

NFP is a monthly report that provides insight into job creation or loss in the United States, excluding agricultural jobs, reflecting the health of the economy. Strong NFP numbers indicate a robust economy, hinting at possible interest rate hikes, which tends to be bad for risk assets like bitcoin. Poor NFP figures suggest rates will remain low or fall, benefiting risk assets.