Macro jitters from a burgeoning AI-disrupted trade are compounding crypto-native weaknesses, with majors posting 8-11% weekly losses across the board.
Bitcoin fell to around $62,900 on Tuesday, down 2.1% on the day and 7.5% on the week, extending an abrasive move lower that has so far refused to produce either a clean break or a strong rally.
The price action has kept the market in the $60,000-$70,000 band that was formed after the February 5th flush – an area that is starting to feel less like a base and more like a holding pattern waiting for a catalyst.
Altcoins are underperforming. Ethereum was trading near $1,829, down 8% on the week. XRP fell 10.8%, Solana’s SOL fell 11.3%, and dogecoin fell almost 10%. The underperformance across majors reflects a market where risk appetite is declining for bitcoin, and even that bid is thinning.
CryptoQuant flagged sell-side pressure among altcoins at five-year highs, suggesting holders are actively distributing to a market where buyers remain scarce outside the largest cap.
That kind of structural selling tends to push prices lower without the dramatic liquidation lights that attract dip buyers, making it a slower bleed that’s harder for momentum traders to position themselves around.
FxPro chief market analyst Alex Kuptsikevich said in an email that bitcoin’s recent attempts at recovery are shaping up as consolidation rather than reversal. He pointed to a bearish pennant forming on the daily chart, noting that a move below the mid-$65,000 area would confirm downside continuation, while a break above $70,000 would invalidate the pattern.
More broadly, he described the $60,000 to $70,000 range as historically significant — a zone that served as the ceiling for the entire 2021 cycle and now appears to be acting as a battleground between long-term accumulators and newer holders cutting losses.
AI fears to return
That adds to the pressure is a macro dynamic that has nothing to do with crypto directly, but drains the same pool of venture capital.
A Citrini Research report marks a burgeoning “AI scare trade” this week, warning of widespread economic disruption from artificial intelligence across the delivery, payments and software sectors. The note triggered a selloff in tech-adjacent stocks as investors reassessed which companies benefit from AI adoption and which face displacement risk.
That kind of broad risk recalibration tends to hit crypto with a lag. Digital assets don’t always sell in lockstep with stocks, but they are sensitive to the same shifts in liquidity and positioning that drive risk-off moves – and right now, sentiment in both markets is pointing in the same direction.
Bitcoin is now 48% below the October high and sits 5.5% below the 2021 peak of $69,000. The longer it trades in this range without regaining higher ground, the more the technical picture leans towards the bears.
