Bitcoin without sustained momentum: ETH, SOL, and ADA remain under market pressure

The largest cryptocurrency remains stagnant below $90,000 after suffering forced liquidations of over $1 billion. While traditional Asian markets hit all-time highs, leading cryptocurrencies remain lagging, revealing a concerning disconnect between conventional risk assets and digital assets in this phase of extreme volatility.

Massive Liquidations Halt Bitcoin’s Rise

Bitcoin is currently trading around $88,010, down 2.16% in the last 24 hours and 2.15% over the past week. Earlier this week, selling pressures temporarily pushed the asset below $98,000, triggering a cascade effect that wiped out short-term leveraged positions.

Since then, prices have consolidated without regaining the momentum that characterized previous trends. Traders note that, despite the weakness of the US dollar and investor rotation into assets outside the US, Bitcoin has been unable to generate sustained momentum to break through key resistances. This disconnect underscores how cryptocurrencies continue to act more as volatility amplifiers than reliable stores of value.

The Ambiguous Role of Cryptocurrencies as Risk Assets

Asian equities extended their gains this week, with the MSCI Asia Pacific index reaching a new all-time high. Emerging markets also continued strengthening positions, while the US dollar gradually weakened. However, cryptocurrencies reacted mildly to these favorable macro market movements.

Ether fell toward $2,930, recording a daily decline of 3.28% and a weekly drop of 1.77%. Solana declined to $122.71 with depreciations of 3.63% in 24 hours and 5.68% in seven days. Cardano plummeted to $0.35 after dropping 4.51% daily and 5.11% weekly. XRP also experienced pressure, falling 2.95% in the day and 3.76% over the week. Most large-cap tokens remain down between 7% and 12% over the past week, indicating that fragile sentiment persists even as global financial conditions become more favorable.

“Cryptocurrencies continue to operate as volatility amplifiers rather than defensive assets,” explained Wenny Cai, COO at Synfutures. “Eliminating excessive leverage through liquidations was necessary, but uncertainty around regulatory policies, financing costs, and legal frameworks keeps investors being selective rather than aggressive in their market approach.”

Weak Dollar and Emerging Markets: Insufficient to Boost Cryptos

Despite the sustained weakness of the US dollar, which has historically supported Bitcoin, the relationship between the two assets has become inconsistent. Investors seem to prefer assets with tangible cash flows or explicit yields, relegating cryptocurrencies to a secondary role when risk appetite moderates.

Traders await clearer signals from stock markets, monetary policies, and financing conditions before reactivating their aggression in cryptocurrencies. For now, the market remains in a wait-and-see pattern, with prices oscillating without clear direction or immediate catalysts to justify decisive moves.

Gold vs. Bitcoin: The Battle for Safe-Haven Status

While Bitcoin struggles to maintain its “hard asset” narrative, gold has emerged as the preferred refuge and value preservation option for investors. The precious metal has surpassed the $5,000 per ounce mark, with an approximate nominal increase of $1.6 trillion in a single day. Sentiment indicators, such as JM Bullion’s Gold Fear and Greed Index, are registering extreme optimism in precious metals, while similar metrics in the cryptocurrency market remain stuck in fear territory.

This divergence signals a shift in preferences among institutional and retail investors: while precious metals attract capital flows seeking safety, Bitcoin continues to be treated as a high-beta risk asset, trading at the same behavioral level as tech stocks and speculative bonds. Without clear signs of a change in this dynamic, cryptocurrencies may remain under pressure in the short term, waiting for macro markets to create more favorable conditions for rotation into alternative assets.