Bitcoin retreated to just above $94,000 on Friday, continuing to shed this week's early gains. The selling came alongside sharp declines in precious metals and U.S. stocks, turning from opening gains into modest losses.
In mid-morning U.S. action, BTC was trading at $94,300, down another 1.3% over the past 24 hours after having slumped a similar amount on Thursday. Ethereum's ether declined the same amount, falling back to $3,200. The broad-market CoinDesk 20 Index lost 1.5% during the same period, with XRP, APT, and polygon (POL) down 3%-6%.
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), and IREN followed suit with 5%-8% gains.
