Bitcoin slips below $71,000 as AI-driven tech rout

Bitcoin slid below the $71,000 mark in Asian hours Thursday as a renewed selloff in global technology stocks spilled into crypto markets, undercutting hopes of a sustained rebound after last week’s volatility.

The world’s largest cryptocurrency fell as much as 7.5% over the past 24 hours, touching lows near $70,700 before paring some losses, according to CoinDesk data.

The move followed sharp declines in Asian equities, where mounting concern over artificial intelligence spending, stretched valuations and slowing earnings momentum pushed investors further away from risk assets.

MSCI’s Asia tech index fell for a fifth time in six sessions, led by steep losses in South Korea’s Kospi, which dropped around 4% as heavyweight AI-linked stocks came under pressure.

The weakness followed a slide in the Nasdaq during U.S. trading, where disappointing earnings from firms such as Alphabet, Qualcomm and Arm reinforced fears that AI investment may be peaking faster than expected.

Bitcoin has increasingly traded as a high-beta risk asset during equity-led drawdowns, particularly when liquidity is thin and macro uncertainty rises.

The latest drop comes after bitcoin briefly whipsawed earlier this week, falling toward $73,000 before rebounding above $76,000 — a sign of fragile conviction rather than a clean trend reversal.

Pressure was compounded by sharp moves in commodities. Silver plunged as much as 17% and gold fell over 3%, extending a brutal unwind that has already triggered heavy liquidations in tokenized metals products on crypto venues.