Bitcoin slipped on Tuesday as a broader pullback in equities and a sharp repricing of interest rate expectations weighed on risk assets.
After briefly nearing $71,000 earlier in the session, bitcoin (BTC) fell back toward $69,000, trading around $69,600 during early U.S. hours. The wider crypto market moved lower as well, with ether (ETH), solana (SOL) and XRP each declining roughly 2%–3% over the past day.
The move extends a recent pattern in which bitcoin tends to post modest gains at the start of the week before easing on Tuesdays, according to Velo data.
Traditional markets also weakened, particularly in the technology sector. The iShares Expanded Tech-Software Sector ETF (IGV) dropped about 4%, continuing a trend that has closely tracked crypto’s direction since October. Digital assets and software stocks have increasingly moved in sync, and Tuesday’s decline reinforced that relationship.
Major equity indexes followed suit, with the S&P 500 and Nasdaq down 0.5% and 0.8%, respectively, giving back much of Monday’s rally tied to developments around U.S.-Iran tensions. At the same time, macro conditions pointed to a more defensive environment, with global bond yields rising, the U.S. dollar index holding above 99, and oil prices gaining another 2%.
Crypto-linked stocks saw steeper losses. Circle (CRCL), the issuer of the USDC stablecoin, fell 16% after a strong rally that had seen shares more than double over the past month. Coinbase (COIN) dropped 8%. The declines followed reports that the latest version of the Clarity Act may restrict rewards on stablecoin balances, potentially limiting yield generation. Analysts say this could weaken part of the bullish case for USDC by making it harder to evolve beyond a payments-focused asset.
Meanwhile, Tether, issuer of USDT and a key competitor to Circle, announced it has hired a Big Four accounting firm to conduct a full audit of its reserves, a move aimed at improving transparency and strengthening market confidence.
Driving the broader weakness is a rapid shift in interest rate expectations. In recent weeks, markets have gone from anticipating multiple rate cuts in 2026 to pricing in the possibility of rate hikes.
According to CME FedWatch data, the likelihood of rate cuts at the Federal Reserve’s April and June meetings has fallen to zero, while the probability of a rate hike has risen to around 15%. The June meeting is expected to be chaired by Kevin Warsh, President Donald Trump’s nominee to replace Jerome Powell, potentially signaling a shift in the Fed’s policy direction.
