The move followed a rebound in U.S. tech stocks after Nvidia signed a multi-year deal to supply Meta Platforms with AI chips.
Crypto did not participate in that optimism. Instead, price action remains heavy. Recent bounces have been met with steady selling, with gains fading as soon as momentum stalls.
Unlike earlier in the quarter, the market is no longer unraveling on every push lower, but it is also failing to attract sustained spot demand that would shift the tone.
The dollar firmed after minutes from the Federal Reserve’s latest meeting showed policymakers were in no rush to cut rates. Some officials 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 tracked that pattern.
Gold has been doing what gold does best, absorbing uncertainty with quiet strength even as risk assets chop around, and that contrast is sharpening 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 he metal’s resilience reflects investors reaching for the simplest hedge in a market still jittery on geopolitics, policy and the Fed.
"I believe that gold will continue to be a default haven and will probably attempt to break through the tough $5,000–$5,100 ceiling. That said, once risk appetite returns, ETF flows stabilize, and U.S. regulations stop dragging, Bitcoin may recover considerably more quickly," he said.
"After all, Bitcoin attracts liquidity faster than gold, partly because it’s still sometimes referred to as a speculative asset."
Oil prices held onto recent gains amid lingering U.S.-Iran tensions, keeping geopolitical risk in the background. Against that backdrop, crypto remains caught between periodic relief rallies and a macro environment that is not yet supportive enough to turn them into something more durable.
coindesk.com
