Bitcoin rallied above $93,000 on Wednesday in a broad crypto market rally, recouping some of the steep losses that triggered nearly half a billion dollars in sell-offs on Monday.
The move brought some relief after a chaotic start to the week, although the rebound does little to calm nerves following a series of structural shocks to the market.
Bitcoin rose more than 7% over the past day to trade near $93,360 in Asian morning trading, reversing some of the heavy selling that pushed the asset below $84,000 on Monday. Ether gained more than 9% to regain the $3,000 level. Solana, Cardano, XRP and several other large-cap tokens saw double-digit gains, with SOL and ADA up more than 12% each.
The rally follows a collapse in derivatives markets, where around $457 million in short positions were liquidated in the past 24 hours. Bitcoin accounted for $224 million of that total, while Ether added another $94 million, according to Coinglass data.
The shakeup erased much of the leveraged positioning that had built up during the recent decline.
But sentiment remains cautious despite the rebound. Bitcoin’s sell-off at the start of the week coincided with a decrease in weekend liquidity and fallout from macroeconomic nervousness, creating a volatile backdrop that amplified price swings.
The broader market is still digesting concerns over corporate balance sheet exposure, including sharp declines in strategy-linked ETFs and the looming review of MSCI methodology – both of which have weighed on risk appetite in recent sessions.
Tuesday’s rise was aided by a handful of additional catalysts.
The market saw renewed optimism following comments from U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission Chairman Paul Atkins, who said the agency plans to detail the framework behind a proposed “innovation exemption” for digital asset companies.
This was seen as a step towards regulatory clarity after months of stagnant policymaking. Vanguard’s decision this week to allow trading of crypto-focused ETFs and mutual funds on its platform also helped brighten sentiment after a long period of outflows.
Nevertheless, the structure of the rebound suggests that it is primarily a relief movement rather than a change in trend. Market depth remains uneven and several major tokens are recovering from multi-week lows.
The next test is whether spot demand can support the move once derivatives markets calm down from the liquidation cycle.
