Precious metals sleeve: the white metal exceeded $100, and Bitcoin retreated to $88K on unpacking risks

Precious metals reached unprecedented heights on Friday, while the cryptocurrency market showed a contrasting reaction. While silver for the first time in history surpassed the $100 per ounce mark and gold approached the $5,000 level, Bitcoin lost ground and fell to $88,030, reflecting risk discussions in financial markets. This development reveals deeper patterns in investor behavior and the reallocation of capital among different assets.

Historical highs of precious metals are changing the asset landscape

Precious metals have entered a new era of price development. Silver reached an unprecedented value of over $100 per ounce, and gold nearly approached $5,000 per ounce — both assets demonstrating the strongest growth rates among major asset classes at this moment. Platinum rose by 5% to a new historical maximum, and copper increased by 2.5%, practically matching its record high.

This sharp reversal towards precious metals indicates a reassessment by investors of their portfolios towards traditional safe havens, especially amid growing market uncertainty.

Bitcoin and crypto assets fall out of risk discussion spotlight

The cryptocurrency sector is showing a different trajectory. Bitcoin begins the US trading session with a sharp decline to around $88,030, retreating from recent highs. This decline occurs against the backdrop of BTC yields in the US dropping to 2% since the start of the year, compared to the 9% level when the asset was trading above $98,000 a week ago.

The CoinDesk 20 Index also declined, reflecting broader difficulties in the crypto segment. As senior CoinDesk analyst James Van Straten emphasized, this shift indicates a weakening demand for BTC from American investors.

Crypto sector stocks under pressure amid volatility

Stocks of companies related to the cryptocurrency market also felt the impact of this reversal. Coinbase (COIN) fell by 2.6%, while MicroStrategy (MSTR), which actively accumulates Bitcoin, decreased by 1.2%. Bitcoin miners Riot Platforms (RIOT) and Marathon Holdings (MARA) each declined by 2%.

Despite the US stock market generally recovering from early losses and ending the day positively, with Nasdaq rising by 0.4%, the crypto sector lagged behind this positive trend.

ETF flows indicate retreat of institutional players

The most significant indicator of changing sentiment is the massive outflow from US spot Bitcoin ETFs. Over the last four trading sessions, investors withdrew over $1.6 billion, signaling a clear risk reassessment among major players.

Jasper De Maere, a strategist at crypto trading platform Wintermute, pointed out a troubling trend: increased conversion of stablecoins into fiat. This suggests that institutional investors, who returned to the market at the beginning of the year with optimism, are now pulling back and shifting to a defensive stance.

Crypto derivatives show defensive behavior

The derivatives market tells an additional story of building protection. Open interest indicators in crypto derivatives have decreased, volatility remains moderate, but there is a noticeable increase in demand for protective put options and short positions. These signals indicate that professional players are preparing for a possible further correction.

Pudgy Penguins: from speculative asset to mass adoption platform

While the main market is driven by risk factors, individual projects continue to make progress. Pudgy Penguins consolidates its position as one of the most powerful NFT-native brands of the current cycle, transforming from a simple speculative digital asset into a serious multi-vector platform for user engagement.

The project’s strategy demonstrates a practical approach: initially attracting users through mainstream channels — toys, retail partnerships, and viral content — then transitioning them into Web3 via games, NFTs, and the PENGU token. The ecosystem already includes physical and digital products (over $13M in retail sales, more than 1M units sold), gaming experiences (Pudgy Party has been downloaded over 500k times in two weeks), and the widely distributed PENGU token (airdrops received by over 6M wallets).

Optimism develops development plans, but the token declines

The Optimism blockchain community approved an ambitious 12-month plan to allocate about half of the Superchain revenue for token buybacks. This decision, which should have a positive impact on the token price through supply reduction mechanics, paradoxically did not prevent the decline in the OP token’s value.

Overall picture: account analysis, capital reallocation

The current moment reveals the epicenter of prevailing trends in financial markets: investors are systematically reallocating from risky assets to traditional safe havens. Precious metals have become an ambiguous choice, while the crypto sector, especially in the US, is experiencing a period of reassessment and position clearing. The overall trend can be characterized as a shift towards more conservative asset allocation.