Bitcoin Slips Below $83,000 as Yields Surge, While Robinhood Adds $25M in BTC

Bitcoin Retreats as Bond Yields and the Dollar Climb

Bitcoin slid below $84,000 early in the U.S. session and extended its losses later in the day, dropping close to 4% and slipping under $83,000. Ether fell harder, and XRP and Solana also posted declines. The pressure came from the bond market. The U.S. 10-year Treasury yield rose above 5.3%, the 30-year yield reached a fresh high near 5.7%, and the U.S. Dollar Index climbed back above 102.

Geopolitics added to the unease. Renewed Iranian attacks on tankers near the Strait of Hormuz sent oil sharply higher at the start of the day, which revived inflation worries and dampened appetite for risk assets. Crypto-linked equities followed the token market lower, with Coinbase, Circle, MARA Holdings and Strategy all trading down by roughly 4% to 6%.

A Leverage Flush Rather Than a Trend Change

Roughly $550 million in leveraged crypto positions were liquidated over 24 hours, according to CoinGlass data, and most of the losses hit traders betting on higher prices. Liquidations occur when an exchange automatically closes a borrowed-money position that can no longer cover its losses, and the forced selling can accelerate a decline.

Some analysts view the move as a reset of excess leverage rather than the start of a deeper downtrend. Others warn that macro forces are back in control of crypto prices. Notably, U.S. equities had just closed at record highs on Tuesday, which shows that the pressure on digital assets is not yet a broad market panic.

Robinhood Puts $25 Million of Bitcoin on Its Balance Sheet

Against this backdrop, Robinhood's news stood out. Johann Kerbrat, the company's senior vice president and general manager of crypto and international, said in a broadcast interview from the Digital Asset Summit in Singapore that Robinhood has added about $25 million worth of bitcoin to its corporate balance sheet.

Kerbrat framed the purchase as a statement of how much the company cares about bitcoin and its ecosystem. He also acknowledged its modest scale: with a market capitalization around $100 billion, a $25 million allocation will not change the company's trajectory. The firm had not yet answered questions about whether it plans to buy more.

The move adds Robinhood to a growing group of public companies that hold bitcoin as a treasury asset, a trend started by Strategy in 2020 and now followed by more than 170 firms worldwide. Robinhood serves over 28 million funded customers and launched its Ethereum-compatible Robinhood Chain in July, so the allocation fits a broader push into crypto infrastructure.

What Traders Are Watching Next

Attention now turns to the minutes of the Federal Reserve's latest meeting, due later on Wednesday. A hawkish tone could keep yields and the dollar elevated and extend the pressure on risk assets, while a softer read could give bitcoin room to recover toward the $87,000 area, which traders see as the next major resistance. Near-term support sits around $82,000 to $83,000.