After trading for weeks in a very narrow range around the $90,000 area, bitcoin breaking higher to nearly $98,000 earlier this week excited the bulls, who imagined many who had bet on flat or lower prices would have to reverse those trades, possibly sending $BTC back above $100,000. For now, at least, the opposite has happened, with bitcoin looking more likely to retest the low-$90,000 range.
Today's declines came as gold and silver, both of which also enjoyed big rallies earlier this week, tumbled 1.2% and 5%, respectively. Key U.S. stock indexes — the Nasdaq, S&P 500 and Dow Jones Industrial Average — all reversed from early gains to modest losses in Friday trade.
Crypto miners defied the broader market downturn, continuing to benefit from investor optimism for the buildout of AI infrastructure. Riot (RIOT) surged over 10% on a leasing agreement deal with chipmaker Advanced Micro Devices (AMD), while Cleanspark (CLSK), Cipher Mining (CIFR), Galaxy (GLXY), IREN followed suit with 5%-8% gains.