Bitcoin made another push toward the $70,000 mark on Wednesday but failed to secure a breakout, easing back to roughly $68,300 in early Thursday trading after dipping to an overnight low near $67,700 — a swing of nearly 5% from high to low.
The attempt was the strongest since the Feb. 5 selloff, yet momentum faded before bulls could decisively reclaim the psychological threshold.
Beneath the headline move, altcoins stole the spotlight. Ethereum climbed 8.5%, while Solana advanced 6.9% and Cardano surged 10.8%. Dogecoin rose 8.3%. In contrast, Bitcoin gained 4.3%, placing it among the weaker performers within the top 10 digital assets.
Such divergence often reflects a shift in sentiment, as traders rotate into higher-beta tokens once confidence grows that forced liquidations and panic-driven selling are abating.
“The wave of forced selling is beginning to clear,” said Daniel Reis-Faria, CEO of ZeroStack. “Altcoins are once again outperforming bitcoin, which signals rotation back into risk.”
The crypto rebound unfolded alongside a muted response to quarterly results from Nvidia. Although the chipmaker topped expectations, the reaction failed to extend gains. Nasdaq-100 futures slipped 0.3% following the report, and Nvidia shares pared most of their after-hours surge to trade only marginally higher.
Despite remaining the world’s most valuable public company, Nvidia flagged concerns about overheating in segments of the artificial intelligence economy, tempering enthusiasm that had supported a recent recovery in tech stocks.
Broader macro conditions continue to cloud the outlook for digital assets. Trading firm Wintermute observed that cryptocurrencies have been drifting lower alongside technology equities as capital rotates toward defensive and tangible assets. Meanwhile, Matrixport identified stagnant stablecoin supply growth as a key constraint for bitcoin, and on-chain analytics provider Glassnode expects liquidity conditions to improve no earlier than six months from now.
Near-term indicators provide mixed signals. Data from CryptoQuant suggests that selling pressure on Binance has eased, supporting the case for a short-term bounce. However, Bitrue warned that a decisive move below $60,000 could open the door to a decline toward $50,000–$55,000, or even $47,000 if liquidation cascades intensify.
For now, the gap between a tactical rebound and a still-fragile medium-term trend remains wide — and bitcoin’s inability to firmly reclaim $70,000 underscores the market’s unresolved tension.
