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Bitcoin drops below $70,000, erasing post-Trump rally

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Bitcoin slid below the $70,000 mark on Thursday, extending a sharp selloff that has erased gains made since Donald Trump’s 2024 election victory. The world’s largest cryptocurrency fell as much as 3.8% to $69,858, its lowest level since November 2024.

Bitcoin is down nearly 8% this week and almost 20% so far this year. Ethereum also weakened, slipping close to 2% to around $2,090 and posting year-to-date losses of roughly 30%.

Analysts said the latest leg down was triggered by concerns over the nomination of Kevin Warsh as the next chair of the Federal Reserve. Warsh is viewed as favoring a smaller central-bank balance sheet, a stance seen as negative for liquidity-sensitive assets such as cryptocurrencies.

“The market fears a hawk with him,” said Manuel Villegas Franceschi of Julius Baer, noting that reduced liquidity would offer little support for digital assets.

The global crypto market has lost about $1.9 trillion in value since peaking in October, according to CoinGecko, with institutional investors pulling billions from exchange-traded funds. Analysts at Deutsche Bank said persistent ETF outflows point to waning interest among traditional investors.

Bitcoin’s decline has also tracked weakness in technology stocks, as fears of AI-driven disruption ripple through markets. Jefferies warned that further price drops could pressure crypto miners and risk forced liquidations, amplifying volatility.

Tether Adds 27 Tons of Gold to Reserves in Fourth Quarter

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Tether, the issuer of the world’s largest stablecoin, said it added about 27 metric tons of gold to its fund exposure in the fourth quarter of 2025, broadly in line with its estimated third-quarter purchases.

The accumulation comes amid a powerful rally in gold prices. Gold has risen 18% year-to-date after gaining 64% in 2025, breaking through multiple psychological milestones, including $3,000 per ounce in March, $4,000 in October and $5,000 on Monday. The surge has been driven by strong investment flows, central bank buying and retail demand as global geopolitical tensions persist.

Tether has emerged as a notable source of gold demand due to the pace at which it has expanded reserves backing its digital assets. The company issues the USDT stablecoin, which has about $187 billion worth of tokens in circulation, and the gold-backed XAUT token, valued at roughly $2.7 billion.

Each USDT token is designed to represent one U.S. dollar held in reserve, backed by assets such as U.S. Treasury bills and gold. Tether’s XAUT token is fully backed by physical gold. According to the company, it held 16.2 tons of gold to support XAUT at the end of December, accounting for about 60% of the global gold-backed stablecoin supply.

“We are operating at a scale that now places the Tether Gold Investment Fund alongside sovereign gold holders, and that carries real responsibility,” said Paolo Ardoino in a statement.

For comparison, Poland’s central bank, the most active reported buyer among central banks, increased its gold reserves by 35 tons in the fourth quarter to a total of 550 tons. Tether did not disclose the total amount of gold it holds in Switzerland across its products.

Tether’s most recent publicly available audit of USDT reserves showed gold holdings worth $12.9 billion as of the end of September, equivalent to about 104 tons at then-prevailing prices. Despite the increase, gold represented only around 7% of USDT reserves at that time, with U.S. Treasuries remaining the dominant asset.

SEC Drops Case Against Winklevoss-Founded Gemini

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The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission has agreed to dismiss its enforcement case against cryptocurrency exchange Gemini, founded by billionaire twins Tyler Winklevoss and Cameron Winklevoss, after investors in its lending programme recovered their assets in full.

The SEC and Gemini filed a joint stipulation in federal court in Manhattan on Friday, citing the complete return of crypto assets to Gemini Earn investors through the Genesis Global Capital bankruptcy process between May and June 2024.

In 2023, the SEC charged Genesis and Gemini Trust Company with illegally selling securities via the Gemini Earn programme, which allowed customers to lend crypto assets to Genesis in exchange for interest. At its peak, the programme held about $940 million in assets before Genesis froze withdrawals in November 2022.

Unlike several crypto firms that collapsed after the 2022 market downturn, Genesis ultimately returned customers’ crypto in kind rather than liquidating assets and paying cash. The SEC said this full recovery made dismissal of the claims appropriate, while stressing the decision does not set a precedent for other cases.

The move reflects a broader shift in U.S. crypto enforcement under President Donald Trump, who has pledged a more industry-friendly regulatory approach. Gemini did not immediately comment on the dismissal.