CoinDesk
Bitcoin slid to $62,715 in Asian hours on Friday, down 1.9% on the day and 14.5% on the week, as the artificial-intelligence trade that has powered global risk assets through 2026 ran out of breath. Ether dropped a sharper 4.8% to $1,696, taking its seven-day loss past 15%, while Solana fell 5.4% to $66.51 for an 18.5% weekly slide. The selloff was led from outside crypto, but it landed squarely on the sector.
Why it matters
The catalyst was a Broadcom quarterly AI-chip outlook that missed elevated expectations on Wednesday, pausing a months-long advance in semiconductor stocks from their war-driven lows. Nasdaq 100 futures slipped 0.9% on Friday for a third straight session of declines, and the damage radiated outward: South Korea's KOSPI — the cleanest tape on the AI buildout — tumbled 4.7% with SK Hynix off 8%, while MSCI's Asia-Pacific equities fell 1.4%. Currency markets added their own stress signal, with the Korean won hitting a 2009 low and the Indonesian rupiah trading near a record low as foreign investors yanked billions from local bond markets.
The structural backdrop inside crypto has hardened in parallel. U.S. spot bitcoin ETFs have now logged 13 straight sessions of net outflows totaling roughly $4.4 billion since mid-May. Strategy filed its first disclosed bitcoin sale since 2022 earlier this week, offloading 32 BTC to fund preferred-stock dividend obligations. Together those flows have removed a bid that supported BTC through most of the past 18 months.
Market impact
Hyperliquid's HYPE, the only top-10 token still holding green on a weekly basis as of Thursday, dropped 14.8% to $62.14 and erased nearly all of its recent outperformance. Zcash gave back its weekly lead with even more to spare, ending the narrative that high-cash-flow tokens were rotating into a defensive bid while the rest of crypto bled. The Friday U.S. nonfarm payrolls report now sets the tape: a soft print would revive Fed-cut expectations under newly confirmed chair Kevin Warsh, push real yields lower, and likely rekindle the AI trade — taking crypto with it.
Frequently asked questions
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Why is Bitcoin falling this week?
A Broadcom AI-chip outlook that missed expectations on Wednesday triggered a broad unwind of the artificial-intelligence trade that had driven global risk assets through 2026. That pulled the Nasdaq lower for three straight sessions, dragged Asian equities down, and took crypto with it.
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How low did Bitcoin fall, and what were the broader crypto losses?
Bitcoin slid to $62,715 in Asian hours on Friday, down 1.9% on the day and 14.5% on the week. Ether dropped 4.8% to $1,696 (more than 15% weekly), Solana fell 5.4% to $66.51 (18.5% weekly), and Hyperliquid's HYPE dropped 14.8% to $62.14.
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How much have spot Bitcoin ETFs shed in outflows?
U.S. spot bitcoin ETFs have logged 13 straight sessions of net outflows totaling roughly $4.4 billion since mid-May, according to the report. That streak, combined with Strategy's first disclosed BTC sale since 2022, has removed a structural bid that supported BTC through most of the past 18 months.
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What did Strategy (MicroStrategy) do differently this week?
Strategy filed its first disclosed bitcoin sale since 2022 earlier this week, offloading 32 BTC to fund preferred-stock dividend obligations. The sale is small in absolute terms but symbolically notable, as Strategy had been a consistent accumulator.
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What is the next catalyst to watch?
Friday's U.S. nonfarm payrolls report is the immediate test. A soft print would revive expectations for Federal Reserve rate cuts under newly confirmed chair Kevin Warsh, push real yields lower, and likely rekindle the AI trade — taking crypto higher with it. A hot print would do the opposite.
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