Il Bitcoin price continues to fall in the wake of the sale by Strategy of a tiny portion of its massive cryptocurrency reserves. By mid-afternoon, the world's largest cryptocurrency was down 1,8% at $66.640, after touched a low of 65.391 dollars, the lowest level in the last two months. Since the beginning of the year, the decline is almost 24%, while in the last week bitcoin has lost 12%, erasing approximately $160 billion in market valueA decline that becomes even more marked when compared to what is happening in the stock market and in technology stocks, which are constantly rising thanks to the fervor over artificial intelligence.
Bitcoin: What's Behind the Selloff?
The Bitcoin sell-off was triggered by the decision of software company Strategy to sell 32 bitcoins for $2,5 million. An irrelevant move considering that the company owns a reserve of 843.706 coins valued at $62 billion. However, this sale has alarmed the market. Historically, Strategy Chairman Michael Saylor's position was based on the principle of "never sell“, he explained to Bloomberg Rajiv Sawhney, head of international portfolio management at Wave Digital Assets, said it is not the sale itself that counts, but the “signal that sends to the market, especially considering Bitcoin’s underperformance in recent weeks,” Sawhney said.
Capital Moves from Bitcoin to Artificial Intelligence
Bitcoin's weakness contrasts sharply with the stock market. Over the past 12 months, The Nasdaq 100 rose 42%, while Bitcoin fell by 37% and is 48% below the high reached last year.
"We have moved part of the capital from Bitcoin and digital assets to AI-related stocks,” he told Bloomberg Carney Mak of FXHB Asset Management: "AI currently offers a more attractive risk-return profile than digital assets."
“The broader problem it is the rotation of liquidity“, confirms the Qcp trading desk. “The cryptocurrency sector is facing a strong competition for capital, as equity markets continue to outperform, with sector-native investors and traditional asset managers attracted by stronger equity prospects.” According to Qcp, investors could free up liquidity from Bitcoin to pursue opportunities in other sectors. And a tempting temptation could come from upcoming IPOs di SpaceX, OpenAI and Anthropic.
Outflows also on ETFs
The pressure is also visible in fund flows and derivatives markets. According to data collected by Bloomberg, investors have Withdrew nearly $4 billion from Bitcoin ETFs listed in the United States for the last 12 consecutive trading sessions, marking a record run of outflows. Furthermore, Coinglass data shows that approximately $1,5 billion in bullish cryptocurrency positions in perpetual futures contracts were liquidated in the last 24 hours.
"For a market built partly on the belief that major Bitcoin holders would continue to accumulate," the news agency notes, "Strategy's modest selloff has taken on disproportionate significance. The current concern is whether this announcement has altered the psychology that underpinned one of the key narratives supporting Bitcoin."
