Bitcoin is back below $68,000, making the previous bounce above $70,000 weaker.
The largest cryptocurrency briefly attempted to regain the level on Monday, only to be pushed towards $67,000 as sellers emerged around the breakout zone. It was trading near $68,000 early Wednesday, roughly flat for the day, but now below what had been short-term support.
This change matters. The $68,000 to $70,000 range served as a floor during the first half of February. Losing it increases the risk that rallies will be sold rather than bought, and a clean break below $67,000 would put $65,000 and perhaps $60,000 back in focus.
Bitcoin, Ethereum and BNB are all down as much as 3% over seven days, while smaller tokens such as Zcash’s ZEC and Cosmos’ ATOM have seen gains of up to 20% in the past week. Historically, when the majors lag, the rest of the market struggles to maintain its upward momentum.
“The decline of larger coins is a worrying sign for smaller ones, as it could soon drag them down with it at an accelerating pace,” Alex Kuptsikevich, chief market analyst at FxPro, said in an email.
On-chain analysts at CryptoQuant say the market has entered a phase of stress but has yet to see the kind of significant loss that typically marks a definitive cycle bottom – suggesting the unwind may not be over.
Adding to the unease, quantum computing has resurfaced in market conversations, with some investors questioning long-term crypto risk while developers push out deadlines that place significant threats decades away.
Meanwhile, Blockstream CEO Adam Back criticized a proposed BIP-110 update aimed at reducing spam on the network, arguing that it could create new reputational risks by changing the rules around what transactions should be permitted, as noted by CoinDesk.
Institutional flows are also evolving. The Harvard endowment reduced its exposure to Bitcoin ETFs by more than 20% in the fourth quarter, although it remains the fund’s largest public crypto position.
Outside of crypto, Asian stocks advanced in restricted Lunar New Year trading. The MSCI Asia-Pacific index rose 0.6%, led by gains in Japan, while U.S. futures edged higher after recent AI-related turmoil cooled.
For Bitcoin, however, the technical battle remains at the forefront. Collect $70,000 and reset your momentum. Fail again and the market starts pricing in a deeper retracement.
