Altcoins Lead Broad Crypto Rally Ahead of Nvidia Earnings
Cryptocurrency markets climbed 3.7% on Wednesday as traders positioned for Nvidia's highly anticipated earnings report, with the tech-focused bounce extending across major tokens. The total crypto market cap reached $2.34 trillion amid the surge.
Top Performers in the Rally
Among the top 50 cryptocurrencies by market cap, Polkadot led with gains of 11.5% in the past 24 hours, while Solana jumped 8.1%. Other notable movers included:
- Bittensor (an "AI-proxy" token): rose 6.8%
- Uniswap: gained 7.7%
- Avalanche and World Liberty Financial: posted gains over 6%
The surge liquidated over $325 million in positions across the market, according to CoinGlass data.
The Nvidia Catalyst
The rally comes as traders position for Nvidia's fiscal 2026 fourth-quarter earnings, due after Wednesday's close. The chipmaker has become a bellwether for AI-driven tech sentiment, with implications that increasingly spill into crypto markets.
"This is the single most important catalyst in the window," Derek Lim, head of research at Caladan, told Decrypt. "The entire equity market, and crypto by extension, was positioning around this event."
He expects Nvidia to report revenue of approximately $65.7 billion, a 67% increase year-over-year.
Market Dynamics Behind the Move
Andri Fauzan Adziima, Research Lead at Bitrue, told Decrypt the move is a cocktail of "institutional dip-buying, short liquidations, and easing tariff fears," rather than a direct bet on Nvidia's specific balance sheet.
Lim added that Bitcoin's price action during the State of the Union address window was "likely more Nvidia-driven than speech-driven."
Structural Concerns Remain
Despite the immediate rally, broader market conditions remain precarious, according to Augustine Fan, Partner and Head of Insights at SignalPlus.
"We remain mired in a structural bear market and are in desperate need for a new narrative to rescue us from this downtrend, but that seems to be a tall ask at the moment," Fan told Decrypt. "Support comes in at the mid-$55,000 area, while we would need a short squeeze to take us back above $74k before technicals start to improve. Path of resistance remains for lower prices in the meantime."
Fan added that the current rebound followed a period of oversold conditions across both crypto and equities.
"The trend continued into today on the back of a further short squeeze, in addition to anticipation of Nvidia earnings as well as some month-end buying against the lowered equity prices." He noted that upcoming Federal Reserve speakers are "expected to be supportive of markets, with rates traders already pricing in rate cuts well into 2027."
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