By Elsa Ohlen

Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies gained ground early Thursday as U.S. equities rebounded following a selloff Wednesday.

The world's largest crypto, Bitcoin, is up 0.9% over the past 24 hours to $84,370, according to CoinDesk data. It dropped sharply Wednesday afternoon, alongside stocks, following remarks by Federal Reserve chair Jerome Powell at the Economic Club of Chicago.

Powell pushed back against the idea that the Fed would intervene in a struggling stock and bond market. His comments indicated that the central bank would continue to hold interest rates at current levels for now.

Cryptocurrencies and other assets considered by investors as risky typically gain when interest rates are low, and vice versa.

Smaller cryptos followed a similar pattern as Bitcoin. Ripple's XRP rose 1.1% to $2.09 while Ether gained 1.5% and last traded at $1,592.

Solana was leading the pack, up 7% over the last 24 hours.

"In the short term, Bitcoin and crypto are likely to remain correlated with U.S. equities as markets respond to policy volatility, including shifting tariffs," said Dylan Bane at Messari, a crypto data research firm.

"In the long term, continued tariffs could catalyze structural economic change, leading to a decoupling of Bitcoin from traditional assets as it gains recognition as an independent store of value."

Futures tracking the S&P 500 were up 0.7% early Thursday while futures tracking the Nasdaq 100 climbed 0.9%. Both indexes saw big losses Wednesday.

Write to Elsa Ohlen at elsa.ohlen@barrons.com

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April 17, 2025 05:08 ET (09:08 GMT)

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