Bitcoin rebounded on Friday after briefly testing the key $60,000 level, as a global selloff in technology stocks that had punished risk assets showed tentative signs of easing.
Despite the bounce, bitcoin remains close to its weakest levels since October 2024, just before Donald Trump’s U.S. election victory, when expectations of a more crypto-friendly stance had buoyed prices.
The broader digital asset market has shed roughly $2 trillion in value since peaking at $4.38 trillion in early October, according to CoinGecko, with more than $1 trillion wiped out in the past month alone.
Bitcoin is on track for a weekly loss of about 15%, bringing year-to-date declines to roughly 26%. Ether has fared worse, heading for a 16% weekly drop and losses approaching 36% so far this year.
Market sentiment has been weighed down by heavy selling across precious metals and equities, as leveraged positions and speculative flows fueled sharp swings in gold and silver. Some of that pressure eased on Friday, helping risk assets stabilize.
Joshua Chu, co-chair of the Hong Kong Web3 Association, said bitcoin’s pullback reflects overdue risk repricing rather than structural failure, warning that investors who “bet too big” without proper risk controls are now confronting real market volatility, a theme echoed by continued outflows from U.S. spot bitcoin ETFs.
