Bitcoin slid to a fresh low for the year on Thursday as risk appetite on Wall Street waned and investors digested renewed momentum in the gold market alongside growing focus on U.S. regulatory developments affecting digital assets.
By 14:55 ET (19:55 GMT), the largest cryptocurrency by market value was trading 6.2% lower at $83,991.30, having touched a session trough of $83,405.70 - its lowest intraday level so far this year. The token had been rangebound between $86,000 and $89,000 earlier in the week and has recorded only a 1% gain for January to date.
The retracement in crypto prices came as gold briefly surged past the $5,500-an-ounce mark on Thursday, driven in part by safe-haven demand, geopolitical strains and considerations about the Federal Reserve's rate outlook. After an accelerated rally, bullion later relinquished much of those gains and turned lower as some investors took profits and paused for reassessment.
Regulatory focus in Washington
Market attention has also centered on a joint regulatory initiative announced at a press conference by U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission Chair Paul Atkins and Commodity Futures Trading Commission Chair Michael Selig. The effort - called Project Crypto - is intended to ready both agencies to implement a piece of proposed legislation known as the Clarity Act promptly once Congress enacts it.
At the announcement, Atkins said: "We have designed Project Crypto such that when Congress acts, our agencies are ready to implement any new legislation faithfully and thoughtfully. Moving forward, that means deploying every tool at our disposal to reduce friction, to harmonize standards and definitions where appropriate, and to equip markets with confidence as Congress completes its vital work."
The initiative follows reports that the White House plans to convene senior executives from the banking and cryptocurrency industries next week in an effort to break the current legislative impasse. Separately, a U.S. agriculture committee advanced a bill known as the Digital Commodity Intermediaries Act, which would give the CFTC expanded authority to oversee digital commodities and strengthen consumer protections. That measure is described as building on the Clarity Act.
Altcoins also under pressure
Thursday's risk-off environment extended beyond Bitcoin. Ethereum, the second-largest token, fell 7.1% to $2,803.14. XRP declined 6.7% to $1.79. Solana and Cardano each lost more than 7% of their value. Meme tokens were not spared: Dogecoin fell 7.7% and $TRUMP was down 4.6%.
The broader selloff across cryptocurrencies reflects a confluence of factors noted above - including shifts in safe-haven demand, uncertainty tied to regulatory outcomes in the U.S., and a wider pullback on equity markets - all of which can influence liquidity and short-term risk pricing across digital-asset markets.
Ayushman Ojha and Vahid Karaahmetovic contributed to this article.