Bitcoin rebounds as investors reassess rate outlook amid AI stock sell-off

Bitcoin clawed its way back above $81K on Thursday, recovering from an overnight plunge below $80K even as US equities cratered and Treasury yields pulled back from their recent highs.

The Nasdaq fell 1.5% as investors punished anything adjacent to artificial intelligence spending.

Google parent Alphabet saw its stock crater 12% on disappointing results. ServiceNow dropped 23% after missing forecasts. Even Microsoft, which actually beat estimates, still lost about 1%. Caterpillar fell 8% after narrowly missing revenue expectations, partly because of its exposure to data-center construction.

The 10-year Treasury yield fell seven basis points to 4.98%, dipping below the psychologically important 5% threshold. The two-year yield dropped 7.5 basis points to 4.66%. Odds of a December rate hike slipped below 80% after approaching 90% just the day before.

Into that environment, Bitcoin did something mildly surprising. Rather than tracking the Nasdaq straight down, it bounced. Some capital that fled equities appeared to rotate into crypto, providing what looked like early evidence of demand for Bitcoin during periods of market stress.

US-listed spot Bitcoin ETFs had logged three consecutive days of inflows, totaling roughly $424M, with Tuesday alone accounting for $176M. BlackRock’s iShares Bitcoin Trust (ticker IBIT) continued to dominate.