Bitcoin Retreats Below $121K as Silver Hits $50 Before Profit-Taking

Bitcoin’s attempted rally toward record highs was short-lived Thursday morning, reversing sharply as precious metals and altcoins pulled back.

BTC, trading just under $124,000 ahead of the U.S. market open, slid below $121,000 within about 90 minutes. The decline coincided with profit-taking in previously hot gold and silver markets.

Silver grabbed headlines after soaring 50% from April lows, hitting $50 per ounce for the first time in history. The milestone, however, triggered a swift pullback, with prices dropping roughly 4% within minutes to $48.55 at press time. Daniela Sabin Hathorn, senior market analyst at Capital.com, noted that while momentum is currently choppy, medium-term appetite for silver above $50 could persist if macro and real-yield conditions remain favorable.

Gold also retreated, falling over 1% from near $4,100 to around $4,035. Analysts suggest the ongoing U.S. government shutdown may be dampening investor sentiment, as key economic data releases are delayed and federal-dependent businesses slow operations.

Altcoins experienced sharper declines against BTC. Ether fell 3.5% to $4,300, while BNB and DOGE lost 3–4%. Amid the risk-off rotation, Bitcoin’s dominance of the crypto market rose above 59.4%, its highest in nearly eight weeks, signaling capital shifting back to the largest cryptocurrency.

The pullback also impacted crypto derivatives markets, with over $600 million in leveraged positions liquidated across digital assets in the past 24 hours, according to CoinGlass data.