Bitcoin slides below $82,000 as AI doubts return, with DeFi tokens leading declines
Summary
Bitcoin dropped toward $81,600 alongside declining Nasdaq futures amid renewed skepticism regarding artificial intelligence. At the same time, broader digital asset markets experienced downward pressure, with decentralized finance tokens suffering the steepest losses.
Bitcoin fell as much as 2.9% on Thursday, dropping to around $81,600, its biggest slide in two weeks. The move erased a late-Wednesday surge that had taken the coin to nearly $84,800.
The trigger came from stocks, not crypto. Mixed earnings from Tesla and Meta revived doubts about AI spending, sending Nasdaq 100 futures down about 1.3% and S&P 500 futures down about 0.7%. Asia was hit harder: South Korea's Kospi fell 3.5%, Japan's Nikkei 225 slipped 2.7%, Hong Kong's Hang Seng dropped and Chinese stocks entered a bear market.
Altcoins took more damage than bitcoin. The CoinDesk 80 index lost about 3.5% and the DeFi index slid about 6%, the worst-hit sector. Curve (CRV) fell 8.2%, Ethena (ENA) 7.2% and Uniswap (UNI) 5%. Ether lost 2.6% to near $2,400, and Solana slipped 2.4% to around $104 even as its Alpenglow upgrade went live. Monero (XMR) was one of the few gainers, up 4.9%.
Derivatives data showed traders closing positions rather than adding new ones. Liquidations jumped 52% to about $431 million and total open interest fell 2.5%, even as trading volume rose. Spot bitcoin ETFs had still taken in more than $1 billion over the first three days of the week, according to SoSoValue.
Sources: CoinDesk ยท Webull market data
Our Take
This is bitcoin trading like a tech stock again. The drop lined up with Nasdaq futures, not with any crypto news: the same AI-spending doubts that hit Tesla and Meta overnight hit crypto too. When that happens, the rest of the crypto market falls harder than bitcoin, and DeFi tokens, the riskiest corner, fall the most.
Wednesday's spike to $84,800 trapped buyers who chased it, and the jump in liquidations shows how fast that unwound. But ETF buyers are still there, with over $1 billion of inflows this week. So far this looks more like leverage getting flushed out than a change in trend.
Levels we are watching today:
- BTC is near $81,700. The $81,600 low is first support; a break opens a move toward $80,000. Resistance is the $82,900 area, then Wednesday's $84,800 high.
- ETH is near $2,400, sitting right on its $2,394 low. Losing $2,390 would be a weak sign for the whole altcoin market.
- COIN (about $169.70 premarket, -4.2%) and MSTR (about $145, -5.5%) are falling more than bitcoin itself and giving back Wednesday's rally.
For stock traders, COIN and MSTR will likely follow BTC and QQQ at the open. We would wait for bitcoin to hold $81,600 before trying a long in either one; chasing a bounce while Nasdaq futures are red is a low-odds trade.
Opinion of Tech & Money Press. Not financial advice.
Source: Read the full story at CoinDesk: Bitcoin, Ethereum, Crypto News and Price Data