Bitcoin nears $106K and Ether surges 8% as bullish sentiment sweeps through cryptocurrency markets.

Crypto Markets Rally Despite Moody’s U.S. Credit Downgrade; Ether Jumps 8%, Bitcoin Nears $106K

Cryptocurrencies surged over the last 24 hours, with ether (ETH) leading the charge, gaining 8%, while bitcoin (BTC) inched closer to the $106,000 threshold. This strong performance came amid a risk-averse environment caused by Moody’s unexpected downgrade of the U.S. credit rating on Friday.

Despite broader market sell-offs impacting stocks and gold—where gold prices dropped nearly 7% from recent peaks—bitcoin defied the trend, briefly reaching $107,000 late Sunday before settling near $105,000.

“Bitcoin’s weekend rally amid equity market weakness confirms its growing appeal as a digital store of value,” said QCP Capital via Telegram Monday. The firm highlighted steady inflows into spot bitcoin ETFs and institutional interest as key factors, even as some leveraged long positions were trimmed in derivatives markets.

Ethereum also showed notable strength, breaking past the $2,900 mark in a continuation of last week’s bullish momentum. The surge is attributed to rising enthusiasm around Ethereum staking and positive sentiment following the Pectra network upgrade, despite no fresh news emerging on Monday.

Other top altcoins including Solana (SOL), XRP, BNB, and Dogecoin (DOGE) posted modest gains ranging from 2% to 4%. The CoinDesk 20 index saw a modest increase of just under 2%.

Aave’s AAVE token experienced a sharp jump of over 25%, although the move appears speculative with no related protocol developments or governance actions reported. The token remains well below its 2021 peak.

Market observers are noting a significant decoupling between bitcoin and traditional “hard assets” like gold.

“Unlike previous months where BTC and gold moved together, bitcoin is advancing as gold declines, which is reflected in ETF flow trends,” said Augustine Fan from SignalPlus. “Gold ETFs are seeing outflows while BTC ETFs experience inflows, a trend also mirrored in futures trading on CME. This divergence could present new trading opportunities,” he added.