Bitcoin rises to $70,000 after slipping to 16‑month low

Bitcoin climbed back above $70,000 on Friday, February 6, 2026, after sinking to a 16‑month low earlier.

The rebound was lifted by a sharp rebound in technology shares and precious metals following a global rout that had hammered a broad swathe of risk assets.

Bitcoin, the world’s largest cryptocurrency, was last up more than 11% at $70,231, rising as high as $71,464.96 and recouping losses that pushed it to $60,017.60, the lowest level since October 24, earlier on.

Bitcoin posted its largest one-day gain since March 2023, but was down roughly 8% this week.

“It feels like a day of consolidation for risk assets that have been under pressure this week,” the chief currency strategist at Scotiabank in Toronto, Shaun Osborne, told Reuters.

The digital currency market has struggled for months since a record crash last October sent bitcoin tumbling from an all-time peak and investor sentiment toward these assets has cooled.

Friday’s low was its weakest level since early October 2024. That was just before bitcoin’s rally accelerated as Donald Trump closed in on winning the United States presidential election, having signalled his intention to support crypto on the campaign trail.

Market participants, however, were leery about Friday’s recovery.

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The options market showed that investors are anticipating further losses on bitcoin, as demand for downside protection increased.

Data from Derive.xyz, a decentralised options platform, showed a significant build-up of put open interest in bitcoin, or expectations that the price will fall further.

Traders focused on the $60,000 to $50,000 strikes for the February 27 expiry. Those bets suggested that investors are wagering that bitcoin will end up near or at those levels by that date.

Ether was last up 12% at $2,068, having similarly slid close to a 10-month low of $1,753.98 earlier in the session.

The second-largest cryptocurrency was on pace for its largest daily gain since August 2025. On the week, however, it was still down more than 9%.

The Star