Bitcoin
(BTC)
remained
steady
at
around
$43,000
Thursday
as
tumbling
U.S.
regional
bank
stocks
reignited
fears
about
the
health
of
U.S.
lenders
and
a
rerun
of
last
March’s
banking
crisis.
Shares
of
New
York
Community
Bancorp
(NYCB)
extended
decline
to
over
40%
since
Tuesday,
reaching
similar
troughs
as
last
March
after
it
reported
losses
stemming
from
its
commercial
real
estate
loans
and
dividend
cut.
The
KBW
Nasdaq
Regional
Bank
Index
(KBR),
a
benchmark
for
the
sector,
edged
another
2%
lower
following
yesterday’s
largest
daily
decline
since
March.
Market
observers
also
mulled
the
importance
of
the
Federal
Reserve
removing
a
key
language
addressing
the
resiliency
of
the
U.S.
banking
system
in
its
Wednesday
statement
about
its
interest
rate
decision
that
appeared
in
previous
instances,
a
development
mostly
trumped
at
the
time
by
Fed
Chair
Powell
quashing
hopes
of
imminent
rate
cuts.
“Who
would’ve
thought
the
removal
of
‘the
U.S.
banking
system
is
sound
and
resilient’
would
be
the
most
important
line
yesterday,”
Quinn
Thompson,
head
of
capital
markets
and
growth
at
lending
platform
Maple
Finance,
said
in
an
X
post,
noting
traditional
safe
haven
asset
gold’s
uptick
relative
to
U.S.
bank
stocks.
During
last
March’s
“banking
crisis,”
notably,
bitcoin
rallied
sharply
–
after
a
short-lived
decline
–
nearly
to
$30,000
from
$20,000
emerging
as
a
perceived
“safe
haven”
asset
independent
from
the
banking
system’s
woes.
This
time,
bitcoin’s
price
action
has
been
muted
so
far.
The
largest
crypto
by
market
cap
slightly
bounced
higher
from
below
$42,000
earlier
during
the
day,
consolidating
in
the
familiar
channel
capped
at
$44,000.
At
press
time,
BTC
changed
hands
at
just
below
$43,000,
up
1%
over
the
past
24
hours.
The
CoinDesk
20
{{CD20}},
a
broad
crypto
market
benchmark
tracking
the
largest
crypto
assets,
gained
1.5%
during
the
same
period.
“Whatever
the
reason
for
BTC’s
‘risk
off’
behavior
yesterday,
it
highlights
the
fascinating
yet
confusing
duality
of
the
BTC
market
–
sometimes
it’s
a
macro
risk
asset,
sometimes
it’s
a
hedge
against
macro
risk,”
Noelle
Acheson,
analyst
and
author
of
Crypto
Is
Macro
Now
newsletter,
wrote
Thursday.
Maple’s
Thompson
said
he
was
surprised
by
bitcoin’s
delayed
reaction
but
is
“cautiously
long.”
“Traditional
‘stores
of
value’
are
eroding
slowly.
Commercial
real
estate
and
local
U.S.
banks
were
always
considered
safe
assets
to
store
wealth,”
prominent
digital
asset
and
venture
capital
investor
Dan
Tapiero
posted
on
X.
“There
were
few
alternatives…gold,
art,
equity,
bonds
etc.
Bitcoin
will
be
our
new
tech-enabled
world
store
of
value.”