Bitcoin Falls Toward $73,000 as Gold and Silver Rally on Truce Hopes

The assets that investors hold as protection against currency debasement moved in different directions on Friday. Bitcoin slipped about 1.1 percent to roughly $73,100, leaving its two-month run of gains at risk of ending, though a hopeful social-media post from President Trump about Iran helped reverse steeper losses from earlier in the day. The cryptocurrency now trades about $32,500 below where it stood a year ago.

Precious metals rose. Gold climbed back above $4,500 an ounce, trading near $4,523 to $4,543 and gaining about 0.9 percent on the day, after the April inflation data came in close to expectations. Silver jumped roughly 4.6 percent to around $75 to $76 an ounce, with traders citing relief at the prospect of an extended Iran ceasefire.

The divergence shows that bitcoin and the metals do not always behave as a single category. Gold and silver responded to falling geopolitical risk and steady inflation, while bitcoin traded more like a high-risk technology asset that is sensitive to changes in market liquidity, meaning the availability of cash and credit.

Regulatory pressure on the sector also drew attention. Scott Bessent, the United States Treasury secretary, said the government had seized up to $1 billion in Iran-linked cryptocurrency. The seizure is a reminder that digital assets routed through identifiable intermediaries remain vulnerable to government action, in contrast to the independence from intermediaries that their supporters often emphasize.