New York, Feb 26, 2026, 17:22 (EST) — After-hours
- Bitcoin fell about 2% on Thursday, paring a one-day jump that had pushed it toward $69,000.
- Traders pointed to shifting risk appetite and fresh scrutiny on U.S. spot bitcoin ETF flows.
- The next test for crypto bulls is Friday’s U.S. producer inflation report and its impact on rate-cut bets.
Bitcoin fell on Thursday, giving back part of Wednesday’s rebound as traders reassessed risk across markets after a burst of buying pushed the token close to $69,000.
The pullback matters because bitcoin’s latest rally has leaned heavily on a fragile mix: improving demand for spot bitcoin exchange-traded funds (ETFs) and a steadier tone in risk assets. If either slips, the move can fade fast.
Stocks were choppy after Nvidia’s results, and investors were already looking ahead to inflation data that could reshape expectations for U.S. interest-rate cuts. Nvidia Chief Executive Jensen Huang said demand for compute is “growing exponentially” and that “our customers are racing to invest in AI,” comments that fed a broader debate about how crowded the AI trade has become. 1
Bitcoin was down 2.1% at $67,457, after earlier trading as high as $68,936 and as low as $66,617.
U.S. spot bitcoin ETFs pulled in $506.5 million of net inflows on Wednesday, the largest daily total since Feb. 2, according to SoSoValue data cited by FXStreet; BlackRock’s iShares Bitcoin Trust led the day’s intake. 2
Still, flows have been unstable. “This keeps Bitcoin in a delicate equilibrium,” said Iliya Kalchev, an analyst at Nexo Dispatch, pointing to recent outflows, demand for downside protection in derivatives and limited signs of capitulation from long-term holders. 3
A separate pressure point has been the wider “risk” tape. Concerns about stretched valuations in artificial-intelligence stocks and uncertainty over the timing and scale of Federal Reserve rate cuts have weighed on risk assets and helped drag bitcoin toward quarterly lows, Reuters reported earlier on Thursday. 4
Bitcoin-linked stocks also softened into the close. Coinbase fell 6.5%, Strategy slid 5.6%, while miners Marathon Digital and Riot Platforms were little changed to slightly lower on the day.
But the downside case remains simple: if ETF demand stalls again, bitcoin can fall back into the recent range quickly, especially if macro data pushes bond yields higher and squeezes leveraged bets.
The next near-term catalyst is Friday’s U.S. Producer Price Index (PPI) report for January, due at 08:30 a.m. (EST), which traders use — along with other inflation data — to update views on where consumer inflation is heading. 5
Beyond that, investors will watch the next U.S. Personal Consumption Expenditures (PCE) price index release on March 13 — the Fed’s preferred inflation gauge — for a clearer read on whether rate-cut expectations can rebuild. 6
