Bitcoin slipped back under $67,000 on Tuesday, breaking the tight weekend range of $68,000–$70,000 as risk appetite cooled across markets. The flagship crypto, which had been trading near $68,324, came under pressure alongside a softer open for U.S. equities—most notably the beleaguered software sector. The iShares Expanded Tech-Software ETF (IGV) fell about 3%, leaving it roughly 30% below its October high. Software names have been hit by investor concerns that rapid improvements in AI could disrupt existing business models. That dynamic appears to be bleeding into crypto: market sentiment increasingly treats bitcoin like “just software,” so any hit to the software complex can translate into downward pressure on BTC. Read more: Bitcoin's correlation with troubled software stock sector is growing. The broader market tone was negative too: the Nasdaq dropped 0.8% and the S&P 500 fell 0.6%. Precious metals also cooled from recent parabolic moves—gold tumbled about 3% to roughly $4,860 per ounce, and silver plunged about 6%, now around 40% below its late-January peak. Crypto-related equities gave back gains from last week’s bounce. MicroStrategy (MSTR), the largest corporate bitcoin holder, slid about 5%, as did Circle (CRCL), issuer of the USDC stablecoin. Bitcoin miners and data-center operators—including Riot Platforms (RIOT), Marathon Digital (MARA), CleanSpark (CLSK), Cipher Mining (CIFR) and TeraWulf (WULF)—fell roughly 4%–5%. Paul Howard, senior director at trading firm Wincent, said the move reflects how tightly crypto has been tied to macro sentiment over the past year. “Macro news has been closely correlated with crypto's risk profile the last 12 months and expectations are that macro numbers remain soft, implying a risk-off trade mentality,” he noted. Howard flagged an expected U.S. Supreme Court ruling on tariffs later this week as a potential near-term catalyst, but said he expects ongoing consolidation while bitcoin and the broader digital-asset market search for a fresh narrative strong enough to lure capital back from AI stocks and commodities. “Crypto has some work to do recreating itself as an appealing asset class and the relatively low prices are not attractive enough,” he added. Read more AI-generated news on: undefined/news

#AI #BTC #ETF #USDC