Crypto giant recovers lost ground, surges past key...

In a remarkable turnaround, Bitcoin surged back above the $61,000 threshold on Saturday morning in Asia, following a brief foray below $60,000 overnight. This rebound occurred despite a robust US jobs report released on Friday, which had triggered a mass sell-off in stocks, bonds, and cryptocurrencies. The cryptocurrency's price had plummeted to a low of $59,227 before rebounding, ultimately settling around $61,000, representing a 1.3% decline over the day.

This recovery was particularly notable, as it occurred at a level that had been closely watched by traders. Throughout the week, Bitcoin had been experiencing a downward trend, largely due to a record-breaking exodus of investors from ETFs and Strategy's first Bitcoin sale since 2022, which had eroded the token's support base. However, the overnight dip below $60,000 did not escalate into a more profound downturn, as the cryptocurrency managed to recoup over $1,500 from its low point.

The initial sell-off that prompted the decline was not confined to the cryptocurrency market. Instead, it originated from outside the crypto sphere, sparked by Friday's nonfarm payrolls report, which yielded robust results. This, in turn, led to a significant repricing of the Federal Reserve's outlook, with swaps now fully anticipating a rate hike by the end of 2026 – a drastic reversal from the expected cuts under the newly confirmed chair, Kevin Warsh. As a result, two-year Treasury yields soared by 12 basis points to 4.16%, the dollar appreciated, and risk assets plummeted.

The repercussions were most pronounced in the AI trade, with the Nasdaq 100 experiencing a staggering 5% decline – its steepest drop since April 2025. A benchmark for chipmakers also tumbled by 10%, while the S&P 500 fell by 2.6% and failed to achieve its tenth consecutive weekly gain.

Other prominent cryptocurrencies continue to struggle, with significant weekly losses. Ether has declined by 21.6% over the past seven days, trading around $1,575, while Solana has plummeted by 23.7% to $63. XRP, Dogecoin, and BNB have all suffered losses ranging from 13% to 20%. Hyperliquid's HYPE, which had previously outperformed during the recent downturn, has also declined by 9.9% over the same period.

The liquidation of leverage was substantial, with approximately $1.60 billion in positions being wiped out across 308,000 traders over a 24-hour period, according to CoinGlass. Long positions accounted for $1.21 billion of these liquidations, with Bitcoin and Ether experiencing $534 million and $423 million in liquidations, respectively. Zcash, which is currently grappling with a 44% collapse due to a disclosed bug in its Orchard privacy pool, suffered an additional $115 million in liquidations.

As Bitcoin has reclaimed the $60,000 level, albeit briefly, the question remains whether the cryptocurrency can sustain this rebound or if the level will ultimately give way to a retest. A clean break below this threshold would propel Bitcoin back into territory it last occupied during the February drawdown.