Bitcoin slipped below the $71,000 mark in Asian hours on Thursday as a renewed sell-off in global tech stocks hit crypto markets, undercutting hopes for a sustained recovery after last week’s volatility.
The world’s largest cryptocurrency fell as much as 7.5% over the past 24 hours, hitting a low near $70,700 before paring some losses, according to CoinDesk data.
The move followed sharp falls in Asian shares, where rising concerns over artificial intelligence spending, stretched valuations and waning earnings momentum pushed investors further away from risk assets.
MSCI’s Asia tech index fell for the fifth time in six sessions, led by steep losses in South Korea’s Kospi, which fell about 4% as heavyweight AI-related stocks came under pressure.
The weakness followed a drop in the Nasdaq during U.S. trading, with disappointing earnings from companies such as Alphabet, Qualcomm and Arm fueling fears that AI investment may peak sooner than expected.
Bitcoin has increasingly traded as a high-beta risk asset during equity-driven moves, especially when liquidity is thin and macro uncertainty rises.
The latest drop comes after bitcoin was briefly whipped earlier this week, falling towards $73,000 before surging above $76,000 in a move some traders said was a sign of fragile conviction rather than a pure trend reversal.
“Bitcoin’s move below the low $70,000s has accelerated a broader deleveraging, washing out crowded positioning built during the post-ETF rally,” Wenny Cai, COO at Synfutures, said in a Telegram announcement. “Liquidations have been heavy, sentiment has turned risk off, and price action is now driven more by balance sheet mechanics than narrative flow.”
“This does not signal the end of institutional participation, but it does mark the end of complacency,” Cai added.
The pressure was reinforced by sharp movements in commodities. Silver fell by as much as 17% and gold fell over 3%, extending a brutal unwind that has already triggered heavy liquidations in tokenized metal products in crypto venues.
