Bitcoin climbs to nearly $64,000 as chip stocks rally and yen strengthens

Thursday's gains trace to two macro signals that landed at the same time. First, chip stocks — led by Nvidia and its peers — rallied sharply on continued AI demand optimism, lifting risk assets broadly. Second, the Japanese yen strengthened against the dollar, a move that historically reduces pressure on carry trades (where investors borrow cheap yen to buy higher-yielding assets like crypto). When the yen rises, those trades unwind less aggressively, giving crypto a bit of breathing room. Bitcoin's 2.56% gain to $64,371 fits neatly into a pattern that has been building for months: according to CoinDesk data, Bitcoin's current $60,000–$70,000 consolidation range is now the third longest in the asset's history. That's not a story about weakness — it's a story about a market that has absorbed selling pressure without breaking down, and is now testing the upper end of that range on a positive macro day. XRP's 2.09% gain had a more specific driver: buyers pushed through the $1.10 level that had acted as resistance in recent sessions. When a price clears a level that traders have been watching, it tends to attract additional buying from participants who were waiting for confirmation — which is likely what happened here. Zcash's 8.13% jump stands out in the top-15 table. No specific catalyst appeared in the researcher's data, so this looks like a technical move in a lower-liquidity asset catching a bid on a broadly positive day. The Fear & Greed index at 23 (Extreme Fear) is worth noting: prices are rising, but the crowd remains deeply cautious. That gap between price action and sentiment is one of the more interesting features of this session.

• –Bitcoin's current consolidation between $60,000 and $70,000 has now lasted longer than all but two prior consolidation periods in its history, according to CoinDesk.
• –Polymarket, the prediction market platform, has applied to U.S. regulators for approval to offer margin trading to American customers — a significant expansion if approved.
• –XRP cleared the $1.10 resistance level that buyers had been testing for several sessions, closing at $1.12.