Bitcoin dropped more than 2% to around $83,900 on Thursday morning as rising U.S. Treasury yields intensified pressure on nonyielding and leveraged assets.
Dogecoin led the cryptocurrency sell-off, falling 7% to trade just above 9 cents. Zcash, XRP and Hyperliquid each lost between 5% and 6%, while ether, Solana and BNB declined 2% to 3%. TRX held flat.
The 10-year U.S. Treasury yield closed Wednesday at 5.11%, up 15 basis points in a single day, marking the highest level since 2007, according to Treasury data. The benchmark curve rose further after a poorly received $70 billion sale of five-year notes cleared at a yield of 5.033% — the highest auction yield since 2006 and about 3 basis points above where the notes had been trading ahead of the sale.
Higher government borrowing costs raise the opportunity cost of holding zero-yield assets like Bitcoin and make leveraged positions more expensive to finance. Bitcoin's steepest decline came shortly after a stronger-than-expected U.S. business survey was released.
Strong activity data came from S&P Global's flash manufacturing and services composite index, which registered 58.4 — the highest reading since July 2021 and the fastest pace of growth in more than five years. Oil prices also turned higher, with Brent crude climbing more than 4% to nearly $104 a barrel and snapping a six-session losing streak that had been easing inflation concerns.
Bitcoin now sits below $85,000, the strike level where Ledn co-founder Mauricio Di Bartolomeo had flagged a large block of call options ahead of a roughly $14 billion options expiry on Deribit this Friday. The asset had touched nearly $87,300 earlier before sliding back.
