The post BTC trades sharply lower on Wednesday, giving up large chunk of Friday gains appeared on BitcoinEthereumNews.com.

After crashing throughout the week, bitcoin BTC$67,543.14 bottomed late last Thursday at $60,000 before a mammoth Friday rally took the price nearly 20% higher to just shy of $72,000. That bounce, however, is looking more and more like the “dead cat” type. In mid-morning U.S. trade, bitcoin is down sharply yet again, trading just below $66,000 and down more than 4% over the past 24 hours. Ether ETH$1,962.43 and solana SOL$80.00 are lower by closer to 5.5% and XRP XRP$1.3824 is down 3.5%. Higher earlier in the session, U.S. stocks have returned to roughly flat on the day. Gold and silver are higher by 0.8% and 3.2%, respectively. Earlier Wednesday, the U.S. government reported January job growth of 130,000, nearly doubling economist forecasts. The unemployment rate unexpectedly dipped to 4.3%. That has interest rate traders quickly retreating on any expectations for imminent Federal Reserve rate cuts. They’re now pricing in just a 6% chance of a March easing and a 23% chance for an April rate cut, according to CME FedWatch. Prior to the report, the chances of a March move were 21%, and those of an April move were 52%. Whether rate cuts would have pulled crypto out of its bear market is arguable. After all, this sharp downside action began in 2025 as the Fed eased monetary policy at three consecutive meetings. Interest wanes With so many other assets across the globe in bull markets as crypto continues to falter, it appears that investor interest in crypto is disappearing. Coinglass on Wednesday reported that bitcoin perpetual futures open interest has fallen again and now stands 51% below its October 2025 peak, “signaling a significant retreat in trader conviction and leverage.” “We’re seeing an ‘exit-crypto’ movement as investors grow tired,” one analyst told Bloomberg in a story about South…

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Filed under: News - @ February 12, 2026 2:27 am