Bitcoin ends three consecutive declines and approaches the $70,000 mark. Circle (CRCL.US) surges over 35%.

Driven by the periodic resurgence of risk appetite and the slight rebound of technology stocks, the cryptocurrency market has ushered in a clear round of recovery. Bitcoin approached the $70,000 mark on Wednesday, ending the consecutive three-day decline, while stablecoins, cryptocurrency-related stocks, and some financial technology companies also saw a simultaneous increase in prices, indicating a return of positive sentiment in the market. During the New York trading session, Bitcoin rose by as much as 8.5% to around $69,500, marking its largest single-day increase since February 6; Ethereum also saw a rise of about 12% to around $2,085. Prior to this, the last time Bitcoin touched $70,000 was on February 16. Market observers point out that the rebound of cryptocurrency assets is closely related to the stabilization of the US stock market. After US President Trump defended the economic performance yesterday, the sentiment towards risk assets improved. Previously, the US Supreme Court ruled that the Trump administration did not have the authority to impose so-called "reciprocal tariffs" under the emergency powers law, causing market turmoil. Subsequently, Trump used other legal grounds to announce that he would push for a 15% global tariff, becoming one of the key reasons for the significant downturn in the cryptocurrency market earlier this week. However, in his latest speech, Trump did not mention digital assets. Daniel Reis-Faria, CEO of ZeroStack, stated that the demand for cryptocurrency assets in the US market has been weak overall recently, but funds are rotating towards altcoins, with some tokens outperforming Bitcoin. Caroline Mauron, co-founder of Orbit Markets, believes that this round of increase mainly reflects the "bottom-fishing" behavior after a significant downturn, and if Bitcoin can climb back above $70,000, the market narrative may change. However, many industry insiders remain cautious about the sustainability of the market. Jake Ostrovskis, Head of OTC Trading at Wintermute, pointed out that after such a significant decline, it is not advisable to overinterpret the short-term rebound. Unless Bitcoin returns above $75,000, it will be difficult to attract more funds to seriously enter the market. Data shows that currently about 9 million Bitcoins (about 45% of the circulating supply) are still in unrealized losses, indicating that many investors are choosing to cut losses or reduce positions in each rebound, thus suppressing the upward momentum. Data from research firm Glassnode also shows that the overall cryptocurrency market is still under pressure, with the total market value of cryptocurrency assets listed on CoinGecko down by more than 20% from a year ago. Bitcoin itself has fallen by nearly 50% from its historical high of nearly $127,000 in October last year. Alex Kuptsikevich, Chief Market Analyst at FxPro, likened the current situation to the market in 2022, experiencing a long consolidation period after a sharp decline before entering a new uptrend. In terms of individual stocks related to cryptocurrencies, stablecoin issuer Circle (CRCL.US) saw a significant surge in its stock price on Wednesday. The company's fourth-quarter performance significantly exceeded expectations, with earnings per share of $0.43, well above the market's expected $0.16; total revenue and reserve income reached $770 million, a 77% year-on-year increase. Boosted by this, Circle's stock price rose by over 35% to around $81.67 on the day, marking one of the largest single-day increases since its IPO last year. The circulation of USDC issued by the company increased to $75.3 billion by the end of 2025, a 72% year-on-year increase, making it the world's second-largest stablecoin. Jeremy Allaire, CEO of Circle, stated that the application of USDC in global payments, corporate treasury management, and on-chain financial scenarios continues to expand. Chief Financial Officer Jeremy Fox-Geen pointed out that the business performance of USDC has to some extent "decoupled" from the price fluctuations of cryptocurrencies such as Bitcoin. Analysts believe that this helps the market reconsider the positioning of stablecoins as trading infrastructure rather than speculative assets. Meanwhile, cryptocurrency exchange Coinbase (COIN.US) saw a second consecutive day of strong gains in its stock price. The company announced yesterday that it would offer zero-commission trading of stocks and ETFs to US users, with trading available 24 hours on weekdays and the ability to buy fractional shares for as low as $1. Coinbase's stock price rose by 13.52% on Wednesday, becoming one of the best-performing components of the S&P 500 index that day. Coinbase CEO Brian Armstrong stated that the company is moving towards the goal of being a "full-service exchange" and plans to introduce tokenized stocks in the future. In this "wallet war," financial technology companies such as Robinhood (HOOD.US) and SoFi Technologies (SOFI.US) also performed well. Robinhood's stock price rose by 5.64% and SoFi's rose by 3.38%. However, market observers point out that the stock prices of these companies are still highly correlated with Bitcoin. Since the peak of Bitcoin in October last year, the stock prices of Coinbase and Robinhood have fallen by 52% and 46% respectively. Analysts believe that Coinbase's accelerated transformation into a multi-asset platform helps reduce its dependence on cryptocurrency trading volume, but whether it can retain users in the long term and establish stable sources of income still remains to be tested over time. Overall, before the earnings reports of major tech companies like NVIDIA Corporation are released, market sentiment has temporarily stabilized, and cryptocurrencies and related stocks have seen a technical rebound. However, the medium to long-term trend still depends on further changes in macro liquidity, regulatory policies, and risk preferences.