Bitcoin edges lower to end the week as risk aversion lingers, but top coins still post weekly gains.

Bitcoin and the broader cryptocurrency market opened Friday under pressure, with most major tokens seeing 24-hour losses as traders reduced exposure in line with equities following Nvidia’s post-earnings pullback.

At the time of writing, Bitcoin was trading near $67,766, down 1.5% on the day but still holding a 0.6% gain for the week. Ethereum followed a similar path, slipping 1.5% to just above $2,047. Both assets remain confined to the range established after the Feb. 5 crash, with Wednesday’s move toward $70,000 marking the upper boundary and this week’s lows sitting near the midpoint.

Analysts say the selloff appears to reflect a leverage flush rather than a structural trend reversal. Hourly charts showed mostly green Friday morning, indicating buyers have already stepped in after the overnight decline.

“What we’re seeing is Bitcoin moving alongside broader risk assets,” said Daniel Reis-Faria, CEO of ZeroStack. “Nasdaq fell after Nvidia’s earnings, and crypto followed. Bitcoin surged toward $70,000, and when momentum in equities stalls, fast money tends to exit just as quickly in Bitcoin.”

Reis-Faria described the move as a positioning reset. “Leverage accumulated during the recent rally, and when stocks sell off, crypto is typically the first place investors de-risk. Liquidity remains thin, keeping volatility elevated.”

Looking at the weekly performance, the picture is more positive. Cardano led major tokens with a 7% gain, followed by Solana at 5.5%, Ethereum at 4.8%, and BNB at 4.3%, all outperforming Bitcoin and indicating that underlying demand for altcoins remains intact.

XRP was an outlier, down 3.7% in 24 hours and negative on the week at -0.1%, the only major token to lose weekly gains despite facing the same macro pressures as its peers.

Macro conditions also offer context. Asian equities are set for their strongest February since 1998, driven by a roughly 20% rally in South Korean tech stocks amid a rotation into AI infrastructure plays. The MSCI Asia Pacific Index is on track to outperform the S&P 500 for a third consecutive month, diverting capital from U.S. markets.

“From a crypto perspective, the story hasn’t changed,” Reis-Faria said. “We’re still trading within the same range. Until new demand consistently emerges, these short-term swings will continue. Bitcoin behaves like a macro asset — when equities pull back, Bitcoin often follows.”

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