Summary
- Bitcoin is trading little changed even as global stock indexes hit record highs on AI optimism and easing energy concerns, underscoring crypto-specific weakness.
- Derivatives data show subdued activity in bitcoin and ether but aggressive positioning in select altcoins.
- A sharp $4 billion, 60-day contraction in Tethers market value signals capital leaving crypto and may indicate late-stage selling. A durable bottom would require USDT supply to start rising again.
Bitcoin was little changed, adding 0.16% since midnight UTC to trade near $64,000, even as global equities hit new highs, fueled by optimism over AI and progress toward reopening the Strait of Hormuz, which pushed oil prices lower.
MSCI's All Country World Index rose 0.4% toward another record close, its Asia Pacific benchmark gained 2.2%, and Australian shares hit a new peak after the S&P 500 and Dow Jones Industrial Average closed at all-time highs Tuesday.
The broader CoinDesk 20 (CD20) is unchanged since midnight, with 11 components rising and nine declining.
The divergence points to crypto-specific weakness. U.S. spot bitcoin ETFs recorded $5.4 billion of net outflows in the first half of the year as capital rotated into AI-linked assets.
“Institutional and retail interest in crypto as an investment has cooled as AI absorbs a disproportionate share of capital and attention; most sectors, not just crypto, have underperformed AI over the past year,” DWF Labs wrote in a report.
Todays direction may find a catalyst in U.S. employment figures and ISM services PMI due later.