Bitcoin (BTC) Jumps 8%, Outperforming Risk-Off Equities and Gold

Crypto markets extended their climb with ether (ETH) jumping 8% and bitcoin (BTC) inching back toward the $106,000 mark in the past 24 hours, despite

Crypto markets extended their climb on Monday, with ether (ETH) jumping 8% and bitcoin (BTC) inching back toward the $106,000 mark despite broader risk-off sentiment in equities and gold.

The resilience is in contrast to Friday’s surprise credit downgrade of the U.S. by Moody’s, which cited persistent fiscal deficits and political gridlock. Yet while equities sagged and gold extended its recent decline, falling nearly 7% from May highs, bitcoin held ground and even rallied briefly to $107,000 late Sunday before retracing.

“Bitcoin’s ability to rally over the weekend despite a risk-off tone in equities following the Moody’s downgrade reinforces its positioning as a legitimate store of value,” QCP Capital said in a Telegram broadcast.

The firm pointed to consistent inflows into spot bitcoin ETFs and institutional demand as catalysts, even as derivatives markets saw some leveraged long liquidations.

Ether was among the standout movers, surging past $2,900 in a strong follow-through move from last week’s breakout. The token’s recent strength has been tied to renewed interest in Ethereum staking flows and positive sentiment following the Pectra upgrade — though no new headline catalyst emerged on Monday.

Solana’s SOL,, XRP, BNB Chain's BNB and dogecoin (DOGE) rose between 2-4%, with the broad-based CoinDesk 20 (CD20) adding just under 2% in the past 24 hours.

The top cryptocurrency slid as low as $99,000 on Monday, a nearly 7% drop from Sunday's highs as traders booked profits following a rally that saw bitcoin prices more than double from March lows.

Bitcoin prices have been largely resilient despite traditional markets dumping U.S. Treasury yields and Moody's surprising downgrade of the U.S. credit rating.

"Bitcoin's ability to rally over the weekend despite a risk-off tone in equities following the Moody's downgrade and a tone of decoupling from BTC in the derivatives market, with some leveraged longs being liquidated, reinforces its positioning as a legitimate store of value," QCP Capital said in a Telegram broadcast.

The crypto market showed resilience despite risk-off sentiment in equities and a further decline in gold, which trades at its lowest since February. The weakness in the precious metal comes as gold futures saw their worst month in 2024, with traders closing out bullish bets in anticipation of a U.S. interest rate hike later this year.

"Unlike in previous months where BTC and gold went up in unison, bitcoin has been rising against a drop in spot gold, which is also reflected in ETF flows," Augustine Fan of SignalPlus said in a message to CoinDesk.

"Gold ETFs saw a notable drop in flows against a small rise in BTC ETFs, with a similar pattern in gold vs BTC futures on CME. We should assume more of these micro-correlation breaks and relative value opportunities to take hold."