Bitcoin and ethereum opened lower on Thursday, with both cryptocurrencies still under pressure after falling to their weakest levels in years. By midmorning, however, both had edged higher as the market tried to recover from a long slide.
Bitcoin opened at $60,983.43, down 2.7% from Wednesday’s open, before moving up to $61,244.29 by 8:50 a.m. ET. Ethereum opened at $1,619.51, down 2.8% from the previous day, and rose to $1,636.26 by 8:50 a.m. ET.
What is driving the crypto downturn
The latest weakness has been tied to ETF outflows, the possibility of a delay in the CLARITY Act, and money shifting out of crypto and into other assets, especially AI stocks. Together, those pressures have helped push bitcoin and ethereum into an extended bear market.
“People say this was the worst bull market and the best bear market,” said Sam Callahan on CNBC. “What that’s really saying is that bitcoin’s not as volatile as it was in previous bear markets because of the investor base: it’s larger, it’s more liquid, it’s not so much a smaller retail-held asset.”
How far prices have fallen
Bitcoin was down 5.3% from a week earlier, 20.8% from a month earlier, and 42.5% from a year earlier based on its opening price. Ethereum was down 7.3% from a week earlier, 22.8% from a month earlier, and 33.9% from a year earlier.
| Crypto | One Week Ago | One Month Ago | One Year Ago |
|---|---|---|---|
| Bitcoin | -5.3% | -20.8% | -42.5% |
| Ethereum | -7.3% | -22.8% | -33.9% |
Yahoo Finance noted that bitcoin and ethereum have been moving back upward this morning after their drop to the lowest levels in years. The market remains far below its recent peaks, though the early rebound suggests traders are still reacting to the same forces that have weighed on crypto for months.
What comes next for crypto users
The article also pointed readers to crypto credit cards, which work like regular credit cards but reward spending in crypto instead of cash back or points. The value of those rewards can rise or fall with the market, which makes the current downturn especially relevant for anyone holding bitcoin-based rewards.