Leading altcoins retraced some of their gains from Wednesday.
Crypto markets dipped slightly on Thursday, with the total market cap dropping by about 2% over the past day to around $2.39 trillion.
Bitcoin (BTC) is trading near $67,000, down 2% over the past day but up 1% for the week, slightly below Wednesday’s peak.
Ethereum (ETH) slipped to $1,992, posting a 3% daily loss. Among other Top 10 assets, Solana (SOL) dropped 3.5%, XRP plunged 5%, and BNB fell 1.5%.
‘Constructive Return of Liquidity’
Analysts at glassnode noted in an X post today that “profit-taking continues to absorb momentum at the $70K threshold,” implying that this is consistent with a thin liquidity regime where even modest realization events are sufficient to suppress recovery attempts.
“Historically, breaks below 1 have persisted for 6+ months before reclaiming it, a recovery that typically signals a constructive return of liquidity to the market,” they added.
Paul Howard, senior director at crypto trading firm Wincent, said in commentary for The Defiant that stronger-than-expected earnings overnight had lifted tech stocks and risk assets more broadly.
He noted that “the short squeeze on Circle was notable, alongside the significant short interest in MSTR and the earnings beat from NVDA,” adding that these moves contributed to Bitcoin’s rally over the past 24 hours.
Howard added that the market is still looking for a clear catalyst that could push cryptocurrencies significantly higher, rather than just supporting them as a hedge trade.
Big Movers and Liquidations
Among the Top 100 assets by market cap, Pippin (PIPPIN) led gains with an 18.4% jump, followed by Internet Computer (ICP), which is up 8.5%.
On the downside, Cosmos Hub (ATOM) fell 7.9%, and Morpho (MORPHO) declined 3.6%.
CoinGlass reports that more than 157,000 traders were liquidated over the past 24 hours for a total of $560 million.
Shorts dominated with around $420 million liquidated, compared with nearly $148 million in long positions.
ETFs and Macro Conditions
Spot Bitcoin ETFs saw inflows of $506 million on Wednesday, Feb. 25, the largest single-day inflow since Jan. 5, bringing total net assets to $87.6 billion. On that same day, spot Ethereum ETFs added $157 million, bringing cumulative net assets to $11.8 billion.
On the macro front, U.S. Treasury yields were mostly flat. The 10-year note slipped slightly to 4.042%, the 30-year bond yield edged down to 4.687%, and the 2-year note ticked higher to 3.473%.
Thursday’s Labor Department report showed initial unemployment claims for the week ended Feb. 21 at 212,000, slightly above the prior week’s revised 208,000 but below the 215,000 forecast, CNBC reported.
On the geopolitical side, Iran’s foreign ministry said today’s nuclear talks in Geneva produced “very constructive” proposals, but didn’t give any details, according to the Associated Press. The U.S. and Iran are negotiating indirectly, with Oman’s foreign minister and the UN’s nuclear watchdog also present.
