CryptoWire, NEW YORK: Bitcoin rebounded above $70,000 on Friday after sliding to about $60,018 earlier in the session, a sharp swing that underscored renewed volatility in the cryptocurrency market. The world’s largest digital asset traded as high as roughly $71,465 during the rebound. By Saturday, Bitcoin was trading around $69,000, off the day’s highs but well above the prior session’s low.
The move followed a broad selloff that hit a range of risk assets, including cryptocurrencies, equities and metals. Bitcoin’s drop to near $60,000 marked its weakest level since late October 2024 before buyers returned and prices recovered. The rebound coincided with a strong upswing in technology shares and a recovery in precious metals, reversing part of the week’s earlier market declines.
Other major cryptocurrencies also rose in the same window. Ether climbed to about $2,068 after falling earlier to around $1,754, while tracking Bitcoin’s intraday reversal. XRP also advanced, trading around $1.4 after recovering from a sharp slide. Despite the day’s gains, several large tokens were still lower for the week after a string of steep declines.
Bitcoin remained far below its record high above $126,000 set in October 2025. The pullback has been accompanied by a major contraction in the broader crypto market, which has shed about $2 trillion in value since an early October peak near $4.379 trillion, according to widely tracked market data. More than $1 trillion was erased over the past month alone, highlighting the scale of the drawdown.
Options and leverage unwind
Derivatives markets reflected the intensity of the recent moves. Data from a decentralized options venue showed a significant build-up of put open interest in Bitcoin, with trading activity concentrated at $60,000 and $50,000 strikes for contracts expiring on Feb. 27. The positioning followed days of rapid price declines and equally abrupt rebounds that pushed intraday ranges to levels not seen in months.
The selloff also coincided with heavy liquidations in leveraged crypto trading. Market data providers tracking forced closures reported that crypto liquidations exceeded $1 billion over a 24-hour period during the downturn, wiping out a large amount of bullish leveraged positions. Bitcoin’s rebound came as liquidation pressure eased and prices recovered alongside a broader market stabilization.
Regulatory scrutiny and exchange error
In South Korea, cryptocurrency exchange Bithumb said it mistakenly credited customers with bitcoin worth more than $40 billion during a promotional event, then moved to recover the funds and restrict affected accounts. Bithumb said it recovered 99.7% of the 620,000 bitcoins involved and froze trading and withdrawals for 695 customers within 35 minutes. Bitcoin briefly dropped 17% on the exchange during the incident before later recovering.
South Korea’s financial regulators said the episode highlighted vulnerabilities in virtual assets and announced steps that could include on-site inspections of Bithumb and other exchanges if problems are found during reviews of internal controls and operations. The incident added to a week already marked by sharp market moves, large intraday swings and heightened focus on risk management across crypto venues and related trading products.
By the weekend, Bitcoin was still down for the week even after Friday’s surge, reflecting how quickly momentum has shifted since late 2025. The latest rebound returned the token to a psychologically important level above $70,000, but trading remained choppy as investors tracked cross-asset moves in equities and commodities and monitored signs of stress in leveraged and derivatives markets.