While mega-whales are accumulating, firms like Strategy Inc. face a harder time raising capital as their stock prices retreat alongside Bitcoin.
Jitters around US stocks and the sustainability of the artificial intelligence (AI) boom are feeding directly into crypto, with Bitcoin (BTC) sliding back to levels last seen before President Donald Trump’s election-night win.
BTC dropped well below US$74,000 (AU$113,220) and was trading around US$73,000 (AU$111,690) shortly before publication time, roughly where it sat in early November 2024.
The coin is now down about 15% over the period and nearly 45% off its all-time high near US$126,267 (AU$193,189), as per CoinMarketCap data.
Not Just Crypto: Equities Also In The Red
Equity markets are under pressure at the same time, too. Investors are questioning whether AI infrastructure spending and lofty valuations can be justified, with concern that real product demand may miss targets.
Major tech names and US indices are all in the red, with the S&P 500, Dow and Nasdaq down roughly 0.70% to 1.77%. NVIDIA, Microsoft and Amazon each lost around 2.7%-3.4% in the latest session as more than 100 S&P 500 firms prepare to report earnings this week.
In crypto, data shows roughly US$127.25 million (AU$194 million) in BTC long positions and US$159.1 million (AU$243 million) in ETH longs were liquidated. Overall, liquidations have surpassed US$2.5 billion (AU$3.83 billion) this week, as Crypto News Australia reported.
So far, dip-buying has not reversed the trend and retail flows and accumulation by institutions such as Strategy have been visible, but insufficient.
Joe Burnett, vice president of Bitcoin strategy at Strive, argued that price action near US$74,000 (AU$113,220) still fits within Bitcoin’s historical volatility. A 45% drawdown, he said, is typical for a “rapidly monetizing asset,” not an outlier.
Moreover, Alex Good, founder of Post Fiat, said capital is being pulled toward international equities, gold and AI plays, leaving fewer investors focused on digital assets. He also described Bitcoin’s recent performance as a “Trump proxy” trade that priced in pro-crypto policy but has not been fully validated.
Good also warned that if discounts on digital asset trusts widen, activist investors could dump underlying tokens, adding another layer of structural selling pressure.
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