Bitcoin Surges Above $90,000 Without Stock Market’s Help. Why That’s Big for Cryptos.

Bitcoin climbed above $90,000 for the first time since Nov. 20 and continued to rebound. (AFP via Getty Images)

Key Points

• Bitcoin surpassed $90,000 for the first time since November 20, trading at $91,600, an increase of over 5% in 24 hours.
• Bitcoin has risen 7.5% this week, recovering from recent lows, but remains 28% below its early October record high.
• Other cryptocurrencies also saw gains, with Ethereum up 4.2% to $3,035, XRP rising 1%, and Solana jumping 3.6%.

While the U.S. stock market is closed for the Thanksgiving holiday, the cryptocurrency market never stops—trading 24/7. That’s just as well for crypto investors as digital assets are enjoying a significant boost into Thursday.

Bitcoin, the world’s largest cryptocurrency, jumped back above $90,000 Wednesday for the first time since Nov. 20 and continued its rebound to trade at $91,600 early Thursday—up more than 5% over the past 24 hours, according to CoinDesk data.

The crypto is up 7.5% so far this week, recovering from recent lows of around $82,000, but remains 28% off its record high of $126,272.76 reached in early October.

Other coins were also getting into the holiday spirit— Ethereum was up 4.2% at $3,035, popular altcoin XRP rose 1%, and Solana jumped 3.6%.

Cryptos’ good week mirrors that of the stock market, which has rallied into Thanksgiving. The S&P 500 has climbed 4.2% over the past four trading days, its best four-day run since May when the U.S. and China slashed tariffs on each other’s goods.

Risk assets have done even better—the technology-heavy Nasdaq Composite is up 5.2% over the past four days.

Scope Markets analyst Joshua Mahony said Bitcoin’s strength Thursday could indicate more stock-market optimism following the holiday. “The declines seen over recent months have gone hand in hand with wider market declines, raising concern over the potential implications for equity markets if crypto continues to tumble,” he wrote.

“With that in mind, the gains seen in bitcoin raise optimism for a similarly positive session for U.S. stocks despite today’s holiday closure,” Mahony added.

Encouragingly for cryptocurrencies, the rebound is continuing without the crutch of a stock-market rally to support it. They’ve got a lot of ground to make up but the last 24 hours looks like a good start.

Write to Callum Keown at callum.keown@dowjones.com