The pullback erased most of Wednesday’s push toward $70,000 as hot producer-price data and a post-earnings Nvidia decline dragged risk assets lower heading into the weekend.
Feb 28, 2026, 4: 24 a.m.
Bitcoin’s attempt to reclaim $70,000 earlier in the week lasted about 48 hours.
The largest cryptocurrency slid to $65,735 in early Asian hours on Saturday, down 3% over the past day and 2.8% on the week. Wednesday’s rally, which came within touching distance of $70,000, has now given back more than half its gains as broader risk sentiment deteriorated through Thursday and Friday’s U.S. sessions.
Altcoins took a harder hit. Solana dropped 6.7%, ether fell 6.2%, dogecoin shed 5.1%, and XRP lost 4%. The losses pushed most major tokens into the red on a weekly basis, erasing the altcoin outperformance that had been the week’s most encouraging signal. BNB held up better than most, down just 2.5%.
The trigger was familiar. Friday’s U.S. session saw the S&P 500 close down 0.4%, the Nasdaq 100 drop 0.3%, and the Dow fall 1.1%. Nvidia, still digesting its post-earnings reaction, shed another 4.2%.
A hotter-than-expected 0.5% jump in producer prices added fuel, signaling inflationary pressure that may keep the Fed from cutting rates anytime soon. Block Inc.’s massive layoffs fanned broader anxiety that AI is starting to displace jobs across the economy rather than just creating them.
Crypto followed equities lower, but as usual, with amplified magnitude. A 0.4% drop in the S&P became a 3% drop in bitcoin and a more than 6% drop in altcoins. The leverage that re-entered the system during Wednesday’s rally got flushed on the way back down.
The irony is that the institutional flow data this week was actually strong.
U.S. spot bitcoin ETFs added $1.1 billion in three days, putting them on pace for their best week in months. But ETF inflows haven’t been enough to overco