Leading cryptocurrencies saw gains on Sunday amid hints from the U.S. government that it would use gold reserves to fund Bitcoin purchases.

What Happened: The apex cryptocurrency rose to an intraday high of $86,632.21 in the overnight hours, while Ethereum fluttered around the $2,000 region for most of the day.

The spike comes after Bo Hines, the executive director of the President's Council of Advisers on Digital Assets, suggested in an interview that the U.S. could capitalize on the gains from its gold holdings to purchase more Bitcoin.

The two blue-chip currencies have shown contrasting paths in March. While Bitcoin has appreciated by 1.94% since the month began, its younger sibling has seen a decline of over 10%.

Additionally, Bitcoin's market dominance remained at 60%, whereas Ethereum's share decreased from 9.4% to 8.6%.

The spike resulted in the liquidation of $143 million from the cryptocurrency market in the past 24 hours, with short liquidations amounting to $91 million.

Bitcoin's Open Interest surged 5.43% in the last 24 hours. Interestingly, the majority of futures traders were positioned short as of this writing, according to the Long/Short ratio, suggesting that a pullback might be in the works.

The market sentiment remained in the "Fear" region, according to the Crypto Fear and Greed Index.

Top Gainers (24-Hours)

The global cryptocurrency market capitalization stood at $2.81 trillion, following an increase of 1.95% over the previous day.

Stock futures edged higher in Sunday night trade. The Dow Jones Industrial Average Futures rose 190 points, or 0.45%, as of 8:39 p.m. ET. Futures tied to the S&P 500 gained 0.62%, while Nasdaq 100 Futures added 0.78%.

The rally followed a positive week for stocks, with the Dow and the S&P 500 gaining 0.77% and 0.079%, respectively, amid concerns over a potential economic slowdown triggered by President Donald Trump’s tariff policies.

The rally followed a winning week for stocks, with the Dow Jones Industrial Average dipping 11.31 points, or 0.03%, to close at 41,953.32. The S&P 500 fell 0.22% lower at 5,675.29. The tech-focused Nasdaq Composite slid 0.33%, ending at 17,691.63.

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Analyst Notes: Influential cryptocurrency analyst and trader Ali Martinez highlighted areas of interest on Bitcoin’s price chart.

"Support from $82,590 to $85,150, where 1.16 million investors bought 625,000 BTC," Martinez highlighted.

He also drew attention to the key resistance level between $95,400 and $97,970, where 1.77 million investors bought 1.44 million BTC.

Another well-known trader, Crypto Feras, stated that Ethereum must retake $2150 as support; otherwise, the recent spike would be considered a bearish retest.

"A successful reclaim can ultra send it towards $2.8 and $4k as well, but it needs to happen first. Otherwise, $1539 is next," the trader predicted.