Bitcoin Slides Toward $60,000 as AI Stocks Pull Market Attention

Bitcoin dropped to the $60,000 area on Wednesday, marking its second move to that level this month, according to CoinDesk. The decline extended a difficult stretch for crypto even as parts of the broader risk market were moving higher.

The move matters because it points to a shifting market preference: investors are still directing attention and capital toward technology stocks, especially companies tied to the artificial intelligence boom. CoinDesk noted that tech shares rebounded after a modest one-day pullback, while bitcoin was down 3.2% at midday against a 0.8% gain for the Nasdaq.

The weakness was not limited to crypto. Gold and oil also lost ground on Wednesday, with gold falling below $4,000 per ounce and oil slipping under $70 per barrel. CoinDesk framed the declines across bitcoin, precious metals and oil as another sign that the 2025 “debasement trade” in hard assets was continuing to unwind.

AI-linked capital markets activity added to the contrast. South Korean memory chip maker SK Hynix filed on Wednesday to raise nearly $30 billion in a U.S. share offering, a deal CoinDesk described as potentially the largest overseas company capital raise since Saudi Aramco’s $26 billion sale in 2019.

Investor caution around bitcoin was also reflected in comments from hedge fund manager Philippe Laffont, who told CNBC he had become “a little bit more worried” about bitcoin’s future. He said investors now have more opportunities to consider than in earlier years, including SpaceX and emerging AI firms, and argued that stablecoins have reduced bitcoin’s distinctiveness as an alternative financial asset.