In Brief:
- Bitcoin rebounded above $65,000 after a record $200bn one-day wipeout triggered by a tech-led sell-off.
- AI fears hit US markets hard, dragging the Nasdaq lower and spilling pressure into cryptocurrencies.
- Despite the bounce, Bitcoin remains roughly 50% below its October 2025 peak, keeping sentiment fragile.
Bitcoin (BTC-USD) has bounced back above $65,000 after plunging to around $59,000 in one of its sharpest sell-offs on record.
By 09:55 GMT, the cryptocurrency was trading at $65,895, up roughly 5% on the day as buyers stepped back in after heavy losses.
The rebound follows a brutal session that wiped around $200 billion off Bitcoin’s market value after a Wall Street rout spilled into crypto. The token dropped as much as 14% late Thursday as it was caught up in a tech-led sell-off sparked by renewed AI fears.
The fall dragged Bitcoin to its lowest level since October 2024, taking it below any price seen since Donald Trump’s election, despite his vocal support for cryptocurrencies during the campaign. In dollar terms, the $200 billion slide marks the largest single-day decline Bitcoin has ever seen. The token now sits around 50% below its October 2025 record high of $126,00.
Pressure came as US tech stocks sold off for a third straight session. The Nasdaq slipped around 1.6% on Thursday, extending losses over the past five trading days to more than 4% as nerves grew around disruption in the AI space.
Software and AI-linked names have been hit particularly hard following the launch of Claude Opus, an advanced AI model from Anthropic. Its ability to automate tasks across sectors such as law and finance has unsettled investors, raising concerns that AI could undercut traditional providers and squeeze future earnings.
Speculation around Bitcoin’s drop has been wide-ranging, with fingers pointed at everything from strength in metals to tech weakness and even claims from Cathie Wood linking the move to Binance-related risks. No single explanation has taken hold.
Bitcoin has a history of violent sell-offs, often followed by sharp rebounds and followed by new highs. For now, direction remains uncertain and until sentiment stabilises, investors are reducing exposure rather than adding to it.