Bitcoin briefly pushed back above $90,000 ahead of the U.S. open but failed to hold the level, easing lower as broader risk assets advanced through the American trading session.
Crypto markets remained subdued, with bulls largely sidelined as investors continued to favor the debasement trade. Gold was the clear outperformer on Monday, surging 2% to a fresh record of $4,475 an ounce. Silver rose 1.6% and earlier touched its own all-time high just below $70 an ounce.
Around midday in New York, the Nasdaq and S&P 500 were each up about 0.6%, while the U.S. dollar index slipped 0.3%.
After racing above $90,000 during Asian and European trading hours, bitcoin (BTC) pulled back toward $89,000. While still higher over the past 24 hours, it continued to lag most major asset classes. Ether (ETH), Solana (SOL) and XRP were also in positive territory but retreated from highs reached before U.S. markets opened.
AI-focused miners lead gains
Among crypto-related stocks, bitcoin miners with growing exposure to AI infrastructure and high-performance computing outperformed sharply. The group was boosted by Alphabet’s $4.75 billion agreement to acquire AI infrastructure startup Intersect, which the company said would accelerate the rollout of data center capacity and energy development.
Hut 8 (HUT) led the rally with a gain of 17.5%, while IREN (IREN), Cipher Mining (CIFR) and Bitfarms (BITF) posted advances of 5%–10%.
Elsewhere in the crypto equity space, Circle (CRCL), Coinbase (COIN), Bullish (BLSH) and Galaxy Digital (GLXY) climbed 2%–4%, while bitcoin treasury bellwether Strategy (MSTR) edged up just 0.3%.
Metals rally still caps crypto upside
ByteTree analysts said bitcoin and the broader crypto market are unlikely to outperform until the current bull run in precious metals shows signs of cooling.
While bitcoin has beaten metals over recent years, they noted that silver’s parabolic rally has now nearly matched BTC’s total return over the past eight years.
