Bitcoin reversed course after early gains in Asian trading, slipping below $88,000 and pressuring major altcoins as risk appetite faded.

The largest cryptocurrency briefly traded above $90,000 before turning lower, according to CoinDesk data, stalling early recovery efforts across the market. Major tokens including XRP, ether, solana and dogecoin also retreated from intraday highs. The CoinDesk 20 Index (CD20) fell back to around 2,726, roughly its level in early Asian hours, after climbing as high as 2,789.

The pullback tracked weakness in equity index futures. At the time of writing, Nasdaq 100 futures were down about 0.5%, signaling a cautious tone ahead of U.S. trading. Bitcoin historically shows a strong positive correlation with the tech-heavy index, a relationship that tends to strengthen during equity market downturns, according to Wintermute.

The decline prompted traders to slightly reduce leveraged exposure. Data from Coinglass shows cumulative open interest across bitcoin futures slipped to around 533,000 BTC from roughly 540,000 BTC earlier in the day, after rising from 524,000 BTC as prices advanced toward $90,000.

Recent price action also highlights bitcoin’s tendency to underperform during U.S. trading hours, according to Laser Digital. Analysts at the firm noted that both BTC and ETH fell more than 3% during U.S. hours last week, offset by gains in Asia, a pattern they attribute largely to year-end tax-loss harvesting. Crypto has been one of the weaker-performing asset classes globally this year, they added.

Despite the near-term pullback, longer-term sentiment remains constructive among some market watchers. John Glover, chief investment officer at crypto lender Ledn and an Elliott Wave specialist, said the technical setup still points to higher prices over time, though near-term direction is less certain. He expects bitcoin to trade sideways to slightly lower in the coming weeks or months and plans to add to long positions between $71,000 and $84,000.