Bitcoin Slips Under $67K as Crypto Equities Retreat; Gold and Silver Rally
Bitcoin and ether extended their recent losses, weighing on crypto-linked stocks, while precious metals climbed amid shifting expectations for U.S. monetary policy.
Bitcoin declined 2.4% over the past 24 hours to trade near $66,900. Ether fell 2.7%, dropping back below the $2,000 level. The broader CoinDesk 20 Index slid 3.7%, underscoring widespread weakness across major digital assets.
The sell-off spilled into equities tied to the sector. Coinbase shares fell about 4% in pre-market trading, while Bullish dropped 2.3%. Bitcoin treasury firms Strategy (MSTR) and Strive (ASST) each lost roughly 2.3%. Robinhood declined 4.7% after reporting a 38% decrease in fourth-quarter crypto revenue.
In contrast, safe-haven assets gained ground. Gold rose 0.9% to $5,070 per ounce, and silver surged more than 5%. The move followed weaker-than-expected U.S. retail sales data, which signaled cooling consumer demand and strengthened the case for potential Federal Reserve rate cuts.
The U.S. dollar weakened and Treasury yields fell as investors adjusted their policy outlook. On prediction platforms, the implied probability of a March rate cut increased from 7% at the beginning of the month to roughly 19% on Polymarket and 21% on Kalshi.
Derivatives Point to Ongoing Deleveraging
Futures markets reflect mounting caution. Bitcoin open interest has dropped to $15.6 billion, indicating continued unwinding of leveraged positions.
Funding rates have turned more negative, particularly on Binance (-6%) and Bybit (-0.50%), while the three-month futures basis has narrowed to 1.6%, signaling reduced institutional demand.
Options data suggests heightened defensive positioning. The one-week 25-delta skew has climbed to 23%, showing strong demand for downside protection. Still, calls account for 55% of open interest, implying some traders are positioning for a potential rebound.
Implied volatility remains relatively stable across maturities, leaving the term structure balanced between backwardation and contango — elevated near-term hedging costs alongside steadier long-term expectations.
According to Coinglass, total liquidations reached $297 million in the past 24 hours, with long positions representing 77% of the total. Bitcoin accounted for $121 million in liquidations, ether for $89 million, and other assets for $16 million. Binance’s liquidation heatmap identifies $66,100 as a key downside level to monitor.
Spark Targets Institutional Credit Market
Amid the broader market weakness, Spark — the onchain capital allocator incubated by Sky — introduced two new lending products aimed at institutional clients, seeking to bridge the $33 billion offchain crypto lending market with decentralized finance.
Spark Prime allows institutions to trade on margin and settle off-exchange while using collateral across centralized and decentralized platforms. Spark Institutional Lending caters to firms requiring regulated custody, enabling borrowing against offchain-held assets through integrations with custodians such as Anchorage Digital.
Spark currently manages more than $9 billion in stablecoin liquidity across DeFi and holds $5.2 billion in total value locked, according to DefiLlama.
Its governance token, SPK, rose over 2% in the past 24 hours, outperforming the broader market despite continued weakness in major cryptocurrencies.
