Bitcoin climbs, with crypto traders still on edge

Bitcoin edged above $88,000 on Monday but lagged the broader rebound in U.S. equities, with the cryptocurrency still nursing losses from last week's selloff. The modest move higher underscores the market's cautious mood, as bullish conviction remains muted.

- BY SUVASHREE GHOSH AND DAVID PAN

The original cryptocurrency began to recover over the weekend after slumping to a seven-month low of $80,554 on Friday. Bitcoin, which had tumbled more than 20% in the last four weeks, was up less than 1% to about $88,400 on Monday. Other smaller, more volatile tokens increased more, with XRP jumping about 7% and Solana about 3% higher.

Although bitcoin is higher for a second day, traders see little cause for celebration. The wider crypto market is in a pronounced slump despite surging institutional adoption and a series of policy wins pushed for by President Trump, who has embraced the industry.

Technology stocks drove an advance in global equities Monday as traders kicked off a data-packed week more optimistic that the Federal Reserve will cut interest rates in December.

"The lack of a broader 'alt season' in crypto and waning liquidity and underperformance relative to equity markets has made it more difficult to deploy meaningful capital into liquid strategies purely in crypto markets," said Shiliang Tang, managing director of Monarq Asset Management.