Crypto Markets Catch Some Relief as BTC Climbs Back Over $68K

Crypto markets saw a moderate bounce on Wednesday as buyers returned across major tokens, reversing some recent losses. Today, Feb. 25, total crypto market cap climbed about 6% to roughly $2.42 trillion.

Bitcoin (BTC) rose from around $62,900 late Tuesday to about $68,200 at publishing time, posting a 6.2% daily gain and pushing its weekly change just slightly into the green.

Ethereum (ETH) outperformed BTC, jumping over 10% to trade back over $2,060, and up a solid 4.6% on the week. Across the rest of the top-10 crypto assets — all trading higher — Solana (SOL) posted the biggest daily gain, up over 12%.

Unstable Footing

Despite the rebound, some on-chain indicators suggest stress hasn’t fully cleared. Analysts at glassnode said in an X post that Bitcoin’s Realized Profit/Loss Ratio (90-day SMA) has fallen below 1, signaling a shift into an excess loss-realization regime.

“Historically, breaks below 1 have persisted for 6+ months before reclaiming it, a recovery that typically signals a constructive return of liquidity to the market,” the analysts wrote.

Market sentiment is still shaky. The Crypto Fear and Greed Index ticked up to 11 from 8 a day earlier, pointing to a slight easing in fear, but it remains deep in “extreme fear” territory.

Big Movers and Liquidations

Looking at the top-100 assets by market cap, Filecoin (FIL) led gains, surging over 22%, followed by Polkadot (DOT), up almost 22% as well on the day, and Uniswap’s UNI, up 17%.

On the downside, losses were limited: MemeCore (M) slipped 2.8%, while Midnight (NIGHT) lost half a percent.

According to CoinGlass data, roughly 97,300 traders were liquidated over the past 24 hours, with total losses of $316.2 million. Short positions accounted for the bulk at $258.7 million, while BTC liquidations totaled $8.6 million, ETH slightly above $6 million, and SOL $1.6 million.

ETFs and Macro Conditions

On Tuesday, Feb. 24, spot Bitcoin exchange-traded funds recorded over $257 million in net inflows, pushing total net assets to about $81.3 billion. Spot Ethereum ETFs also saw net inflows yesterday of $9.23 million.

On the macro side, U.S. Treasury yields ticked a bit higher as investors digested Trump’s State of the Union, where he leaned hard on the economy and floated ideas ranging from a government-backed retirement plan to limits on institutional home buying, CNBC reported.

Attention now turns to upcoming U.S. economic data releases, including weekly initial jobless claims due Thursday and the producer price index (PPI) report scheduled for Friday, while traders continue to monitor geopolitical developments involving the U.S. and Iran.