Crypto prices fell across the majors on Thursday, with Ether, XRP and Solana leading declines as traders struggled to extend this week’s brief stabilization.
Bitcoin was trading near $66,700, down about 1.7% over the past 24 hours, according to CoinDesk’s market data. Ether fell a similar amount to around $1,965, while XRP fell nearly 5% and Solana fell close to 4%. BNB and Dogecoin were also in the red, reflecting broad weakness rather than token-specific moves.
The decline came even as Asian shares rose in thin holiday trading. MSCI’s Asia-Pacific index outside Japan rose about 0.5%, Japan’s Nikkei rose about 0.85% and South Korea’s Kospi jumped about 3% to a record high.
The move followed a rally in US tech stocks after Nvidia signed a multi-year deal to supply Meta Platforms with AI chips.
Crypto did not share in that optimism. Instead, price action remains heavy. Recent rejections have been met with steady selling, with gains disappearing as soon as momentum stalls.
Unlike earlier in the quarter, the market no longer unravels at every push, but it also fails to attract sustained spot demand that would change the tone.
The dollar strengthened after minutes from the Federal Reserve’s latest meeting showed policymakers were in no rush to cut interest rates. Some officials have even flagged the possibility of rate hikes if inflation remains sticky.
A stronger dollar typically tightens global liquidity and weighs on risk assets, and crypto’s pullback followed this pattern.
Gold has been doing what gold does best, absorbing uncertainty with quiet strength even as risk assets chop around, and that contrast sharpens the debate over whether bitcoin can still claim “digital gold” status.
Alex Tsepaev, chief strategy officer at B2PRIME Group, said in an email to CoinDesk that his metal’s resilience reflects investors reaching for the simplest of hedges in a market still jittery about geopolitics, politics and the Fed.
“I believe gold will continue to be a default haven and will likely try to break through the tough $5,000-$5,100 ceiling. That said, when risk appetite returns, ETF flows stabilize, and US regulations stop dragging, Bitcoin could recover significantly faster,” he said.
“After all, bitcoin is attracting liquidity faster than gold, in part because it is still sometimes referred to as a speculative asset.”
Oil prices held on to recent gains amid lingering tensions between the US and Iran, keeping geopolitical risk in the background. Against that background, crypto remains caught between periodic relief rallies and a macro environment that is not yet supportive enough to make them anything more sustainable.
