Crypto Market Defies Moody’s Downgrade as Ether Jumps 8% and Bitcoin Nears $106K

Cryptocurrency markets rebounded strongly over the past 24 hours, with ether (ETH) surging 8% and bitcoin (BTC) approaching the $106,000 mark. This rally comes despite the broader market turmoil triggered by Moody’s downgrade of the U.S. credit rating last Friday.

While stocks and gold suffered notable declines—gold dropping nearly 7% from its recent highs—bitcoin maintained its composure, briefly climbing to $107,000 on Sunday before settling near $105,000.

“Bitcoin’s resilience amid a risk-off backdrop highlights its growing stature as a reliable store of value,” said QCP Capital in a Telegram message Monday. Institutional demand and strong inflows into spot bitcoin ETFs are supporting the price, even as some leveraged long positions have been unwound in futures markets.

Ether outperformed most altcoins, rallying above $2,900 thanks to continued interest in Ethereum staking and positive sentiment following the recent Pectra upgrade. No major news events occurred on Monday, suggesting the momentum is driven by broader market confidence.

Other tokens such as Solana (SOL), XRP, BNB, and Dogecoin (DOGE) recorded moderate gains between 2% and 4%. The CoinDesk 20 Index (CD20) collectively rose just under 2%.

Aave’s AAVE token saw a speculative surge of over 25%, despite lacking any immediate catalyst from protocol updates or governance changes. Still, AAVE remains significantly below its 2021 highs.

Analysts note a growing divergence between bitcoin and traditional safe-haven assets like gold.

“Bitcoin is advancing even as gold prices fall, a shift reflected in ETF flows,” noted Augustine Fan from SignalPlus. “Gold ETFs are seeing outflows while BTC ETFs experience inflows. This divergence is mirrored in CME futures and signals potential opportunities in relative value trading,” Fan added.

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