Bitcoin climbed back above $81,000 on Thursday after briefly dropping below $80,000, even as U.S. equities fell and Treasury yields retreated from recent highs.
The Nasdaq Composite slipped 1.5%, driven by a broad sell‑off in stocks linked to artificial‑intelligence spending. Alphabet, the parent of Google, fell 12% after reporting weaker‑than‑expected results. ServiceNow dropped 23% following a miss on forecasts, and Microsoft, despite beating estimates, lost about 1%. Caterpillar declined 8% after narrowly missing revenue expectations, partly due to its exposure to data‑center construction.
Ten‑year Treasury yields fell seven basis points to 4.98%, moving below the 5% psychological threshold, while two‑year yields dropped 7.5 basis points to 4.66%. The probability of a December rate hike slipped below 80%, down from near 90% the day before.
Bitcoin’s performance amid market stress
In this environment, Bitcoin did not follow the Nasdaq’s decline. Instead, it rebounded, suggesting that some capital moving out of equities rotated into cryptocurrency. This behavior provided early evidence of demand for Bitcoin during periods of market stress.
ETF inflows support Bitcoin
U.S.-listed spot Bitcoin exchange‑traded funds recorded three consecutive days of net inflows, totaling roughly $424 million, with Tuesday alone accounting for $176 million. BlackRock’s iShares Bitcoin Trust (IBIT) remained the largest contributor to these inflows.
