CoinDesk
Bitcoin fell back to the $60,000 level on Wednesday, extending a multi-week slide as capital visibly rotated out of crypto and into the AI trade. The largest cryptocurrency dropped roughly 3.2% while the Nasdaq gained 0.8% in the same session, a clean barometer of where incremental dollars are landing. South Korean memory chip giant SK Hynix filed to raise nearly $30 billion in a U.S. share offering the same day, the largest overseas capital raise since Saudi Aramco's $26 billion sale in 2019, a further signal of where institutional appetite is concentrated.
Why it matters
The pullback was not isolated. Gold slipped below $4,000 per ounce and oil fell under $70 per barrel, undermining the 2025 "debasement trade" that had favored hard assets on concerns over government debt and fiat debasement. When the three classic anti-fiat hedges (BTC, gold, oil) all give back ground the same session, the read is not that any one of them is broken. It is that the marginal investor has somewhere more compelling to park money: AI-linked equities with visible revenue trajectories.
Billionaire hedge fund manager Philippe Laffont captured the mood in a Tuesday CNBC appearance. "I don't know what to think about Bitcoin anymore," he said, arguing that companies like SpaceX and emerging AI firms offer growth stories that are easier to evaluate over long time horizons, while the rise of stablecoins has eroded bitcoin's uniqueness as an alternative financial asset. From a manager with a multi-decade track record, that is a meaningful shift in framing.
Market impact
On-chain activity is also cooling. Combined exchange volumes fell 3.45% in May to $4.41 trillion, the lowest monthly total since September 2024. The one counter-trend signal: RWA perpetual futures volumes rose 10.4% against the broader decline, hitting a new all-time high, a sign that tokenized-asset derivatives are pulling share even as spot crypto activity thins. The divergence between spot BTC weakness and RWA perp strength suggests the institutional bid is not exiting crypto wholesale but reallocating within it, toward products with yield-bearing collateral and clearer cash-flow logic.
Frequently asked questions
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Why did Bitcoin fall to $60,000 on Wednesday?
Bitcoin dropped roughly 3.2% as capital rotated out of crypto and into AI-linked equities, with the Nasdaq gaining 0.8% in the same session. Gold and oil also gave back ground, undermining the 2025 debasement trade that had favored hard assets.
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What did Philippe Laffont say about Bitcoin?
The billionaire hedge fund manager told CNBC on Tuesday that he has become "a little bit more worried" about Bitcoin's future. He argued that SpaceX and emerging AI firms offer growth stories easier to evaluate over long horizons, and that stablecoins have eroded Bitcoin's uniqueness as an alternative financial asset.
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How much did SK Hynix file to raise in a U.S. offering?
SK Hynix filed to raise nearly $30 billion in a U.S. share offering on Wednesday. If completed, it would be the largest overseas company capital raise since Saudi Aramco's $26 billion sale in 2019.
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What happened to crypto exchange volumes in May?
Combined exchange volumes fell 3.45% in May to $4.41 trillion, the lowest monthly total since September 2024. RWA perpetual futures volumes were a counter-trend exception, rising 10.4% to a new all-time high.
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Is the AI trade replacing Bitcoin as a store-of-value hedge?
The session's price action suggested rotation rather than replacement: Bitcoin, gold, and oil all fell the same day while AI-linked tech rallied. Hedge fund manager Philippe Laffont framed it as investors now having a wider range of easier-to-model growth opportunities than in previous cycles.
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