Bitcoin slipped during U.S. trading on Tuesday, paring its rebound from the weekend’s sharp selloff as investors shifted toward precious metals and away from risk assets.
After rallying about 7% from panic-driven lows near $74,000 to trade above $79,000, bitcoin reversed lower and was last changing hands around $77,100, down roughly 2% over the past 24 hours. Ether posted steeper losses, falling 4.7% to about $2,260.
The pullback in crypto coincided with a strong resurgence in precious metals. Silver surged nearly 15% on the day, while gold climbed toward the $5,000-per-ounce mark after gaining 6.5%.
Risk sentiment weakened more broadly across markets. U.S. equities declined, led by large-cap technology and artificial intelligence-related stocks. Nvidia, Oracle, Broadcom, Micron and Microsoft were each down between 3% and 5%, dragging the Nasdaq lower by about 1%.
Crypto-linked equities largely followed the risk-off move. Strategy, the largest publicly traded holder of bitcoin, fell more than 2% to fresh lows, while Coinbase and Bullish declined by similar margins. Galaxy Digital slid more than 12% after reporting disappointing fourth-quarter results, and stablecoin issuer Circle dropped another 3.5%.
Some bitcoin miners that have pivoted toward AI infrastructure outperformed the broader sector. TeraWulf jumped 12% after announcing the acquisition of two U.S. industrial sites that could more than double its power capacity to 2.8 gigawatts. Cipher Mining rose 4% after outlining plans to raise $2 billion in high-yield debt to fund its Black Pearl data center in Texas, which is expected to deliver 300 megawatts under a long-term agreement with Amazon Web Services.
Dead-cat bounce
Derivatives market activity suggests traders expect any recovery from weekend lows below $75,000 to be short-lived, according to Jake Ostrovskis, head of OTC at crypto trading firm Wintermute.
Ostrovskis said demand for upside exposure remains limited, echoing conditions seen in April 2025. At the same time, heavy buying of near-term downside protection has pushed short-dated implied volatility above longer-dated contracts, creating a backwardated options curve.
He added that a cooling in volatility and a return to contango would be early signals that selling pressure is easing and a more durable market bottom may be forming.
