- Bitcoin tested a two-week low near US$62,000 (AU$89,280) on Tuesday, down about 4%, as investors retreated from risk assets across global markets.
- Ether, XRP and Solana each fell at least 5%, while the Nasdaq slid and semiconductor stocks led equity losses, with Micron and SanDisk down 12% and 13%.
- The retreat followed a hawkish signal from new Federal Reserve Chair Kevin Warsh, whose pared-back policy statement pushed traders to price in more rate hikes.
Bitcoin (BTC) tested a two-week low near US$62,000 (AU$89,280) on Tuesday, falling about 4% over the day, as a sharp selloff in technology stocks pulled risk assets lower and underscored how closely crypto now tracks the broader market.
The decline ran deeper across the rest of the market. Ethereum (ETH), XRP and Solana (SOL) each fell at least 5%, outpacing Bitcoin’s drop, while the Nasdaq slid toward a one-week low.
Semiconductor stocks led the equity rout: Nvidia fell 3% and Alphabet 1.2%, while Intel, Marvell and Advanced Micro Devices dropped between 6.2% and 8.7%.
Memory chipmakers Micron and SanDisk, among the year’s best performers, slumped 12% and 13%. Investors also scrutinised the rising, debt-funded cost of the artificial-intelligence buildout, adding to the pressure on the technology names that have led markets higher this year.
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A Hawkish Fed Resets Expectations
The trigger was a shift in Federal Reserve policy under new Chair Kevin Warsh, whose shorter policy statement dropped forward guidance and kept the focus on inflation. With the easing bias gone, traders moved to price in tighter conditions, anticipating a rate increase toward 3.75% to 4% in July.
Bank of America projected three hikes this year, reaching 4.25% to 4.5% by year-end, and market data showed investors now leaning toward a second hike by December, against expectations of just one only two weeks earlier.
Higher rates weigh on speculative assets, and the reaction extended from equities to crypto with little delay. “We’re seeing a bit of a sell-off in AI. Crypto is reacting to that risk-off sentiment,” said Carlos Guzman, an analyst at GSR.
The episode highlighted how tightly digital assets have come to move with technology stocks, particularly the AI and chipmaker names driving recent market swings. Rather than responding to a crypto-specific catalyst, Bitcoin fell in step with the Nasdaq as a single macro signal repriced risk across asset classes.
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