Bitcoin slips after briefly surging past $66,000

Bitcoin gave up part of its early gains during U.S. President Donald Trump’s State of the Union address on Wednesday, after briefly climbing above the $66,000 mark in Asian trading.

The world’s largest cryptocurrency was up more than 2% at around $65,500 as of 1 p.m. in Singapore, after earlier rising as much as 3.52% — its biggest intraday advance since Feb. 13, News.Az reports, citing Bloomberg.

Ether also strengthened, gaining more than 2.5% to $1,906 after surging as much as 4.84% earlier in the session.

Other digital tokens followed the upward momentum amid improved market sentiment. Solana climbed as much as 5.48%, while XRP rose up to 3.53%, though both later pared their gains as the session progressed.

The initial rally coincided with a broader rise in equities ahead of Trump’s address, during which he defended his administration’s economic record. Earlier in the week, cryptocurrency markets had come under pressure following a ruling by the US Supreme Court that invalidated Trump’s ability to invoke emergency powers to impose so-called reciprocal tariffs — a cornerstone of his trade agenda.

Crypto prices had fallen after Trump subsequently cited a different legal authority to announce plans for 15% global tariffs.

However, even before Trump concluded his speech, the strength in digital assets began to fade. Despite being viewed as supportive of the crypto sector since returning to the White House last year, the president made no reference to digital currencies during his address.

Market sentiment remains cautious. According to data from Deribit, put options worth nearly $230 million set to expire on March 6 were heavily concentrated around the $58,000 strike price — a sign that traders are positioning for potential downside risk.

News.Az 

By Nijat Babayev