Bitcoin’s brief rebound on Wednesday quickly faded, leaving the cryptocurrency negative for 2026. BTC dropped below $87,586 during U.S. midday trading, down about 3% over 24 hours after briefly climbing above $90,000 earlier in the session.
The pullback followed remarks from former President Donald Trump at the World Economic Forum in Davos. He said the U.S. had no plans to take Greenland by force and expressed optimism about the eventual passage of a crypto market structure bill—comments that offered only temporary support.
Other major cryptocurrencies, including ether, XRP and Solana, also extended losses. Traditional markets held modest gains, with the Nasdaq and S&P 500 retreating slightly from session highs but remaining positive.
Safe-haven demand remained strong. Gold rose 1.5% to a record above $4,800 per ounce, while silver held steady after reaching a record high on Tuesday.
Crypto and global markets have been rattled by tensions over Greenland and a sharp sell-off in Japan’s government bond market earlier this week. Though Japanese bonds and equities recovered modestly, the disruption continues to ripple globally.
Macro strategist Arthur Hayes called the surge in Japanese yields “the match” that could spark a broader global risk-off cycle. “Let’s see how big the fire gets,” he said.
