Live markets: Debasement trade unwinds, micron earnings take center stage

Metals continue to slide alongside bitcoin, as the debasement trade narrative that dominated markets in 2025 has largely faded in 2026, weighing on demand for traditional and alternative inflation hedges alike.

Gold and silver are both down more than 1% on Wednesday as they approach key support levels. Gold is trading just above $4,000 per ounce, down 6% year to date and 28% below its January record high. Meanwhile, silver is holding just above $60 per ounce, down 13% year to date and 50% below its January peak.

Back in December 2024, the world’s largest asset manager BlackRock said a 1% to 2% allocation to bitcoin could be a reasonable addition to a multi-asset portfolio for investors who believe in its long term adoption and can tolerate sharp price swings. The asset manager has since reinforced that view, posting on X on Tuesday, that bitcoin’s role in portfolios is evolving and that a modest allocation could enhance return potential while maintaining an appropriate level of risk.

“Bitcoin’s role in portfolios is evolving, and it could be considered a complementary diversifier. We believe a modest allocation (typically ~1–2%) could impact return potential in a portfolio while maintaining appropriate risk tolerance”

Bitcoin’s (BTC) price chart is flashing a bearish signal amid risk-off cues from currency markets.

The leading cryptocurrency fell by over 2% Tuesday, confirming a bear flag breakdown, a sign that the counter-trend bounce from June 5 lows has ended and the broader decline could resume. This pattern was flagged by an analyst early this week, warning of a sell-off to $55,000.

In the meantime, the euro-yen pair (EUR/JPY) has fallen to its lowest level since May 6, declining a notable 1.44% over the past seven days. Similarly, the British pound and the Australian dollar, a key commodity currency, have been losing ground to the yen, while the U.S. dollar index has climbed to 101.57, its highest level since May 2025.

This is a classic risk-off signal. Investors are rotating into traditional safe-haven currencies such as the Japanese yen and the U.S. dollar, while selling higher-yielding or risk-sensitive currencies like the euro, pound, and Aussie dollar amid rising global uncertainty.

National fiat currencies draw their value from yields on local government bonds. Bitcoin has no such inherent yield generating mechanism. As a result, it stands to lose further ground if these risk-off trends intensify.

Bitcoin and ether are grinding toward the lower end of their recent ranges, major market making firm Wintermute’s OTC trading desk said in a Wednesday note shared with CoinDesk, with both assets caught between last week’s hawkish Fed and the stop-start Iran headlines.

Options markets price a relatively tight move for the next 24 hours. Wintermute’s one-day straddle, a measure of expected swing derived from options pricing, put bitcoin in a $61,242 to $63,563 range and ether between $1,606 and $1,694, implying moves of about 1.9% and 2.7% respectively.

The backdrop is deteriorating. Token correlations are rising, meaning assets are moving together rather than on their own fundamentals, while liquidity is thinning into the summer months with no fresh institutional bid visible in ETF flows.

Wintermute flagged $59,000 as the level to watch, calling it the bear market low and the key support if current pressure continues.

Three catalysts shape the rest of the week: the U.S.-Iran peace deal and whether it holds, Thursday’s PCE inflation print, the Fed’s preferred measure of price growth, and the quarterly options expiry at month-end, which can amplify moves as traders roll or close large positions.