Bitcoin's attempt to rally back toward record highs was quickly reversed during Thursday's morning trading session in the United States. The cryptocurrency, trading just below $124,000 before stock market opening, retreated below $121,000 within ninety minutes. This downward movement coincided with pullbacks in the previously strong gold and silver markets.
While gold has dominated recent headlines, silver's volatility may have been today's primary market driver. After gaining 50% from April lows, silver reached an unprecedented $50 per ounce on Thursday. However, this milestone triggered rapid profit-taking, causing prices to drop approximately 4% within minutes. At publication time, silver was trading at $48.55.
"Near-term momentum appears choppy as technical indicators signal an increasingly overbought market; medium-term, appetite to maintain levels above $50 should persist if macroeconomic conditions and real yields remain favorable," noted Daniela Sabin Hathorn, senior market analyst at Capital.com.
Gold similarly reversed more than 1% after challenging the $4,100 per ounce level, settling at $4,035.
The ongoing U.S. government shutdown may be beginning to impact investor sentiment, disrupting key economic data releases and slowing operations for federal service-dependent businesses, creating uncertainty across both traditional and digital asset markets.
Altcoins Underperform Against Bitcoin
Smaller cryptocurrencies experienced more significant declines during the market pullback: Ethereum dropped 3.5% to $4,300, while BNB and DOGE both fell 3%-4%.
Amid the risk-off sentiment, Bitcoin's market dominance reached its highest level in nearly eight weeks. The Bitcoin Dominance metric climbed above 59.4% for the first time since August, according to TradingView data, indicating capital rotation toward the largest cryptocurrency.
The market correction also affected crypto derivatives markets. CoinGlass data reveals over $600 million in leveraged trading positions were liquidated across digital assets during the past 24 hours.