Key facts
- Bitcoin hovered around $65,400 in Friday's Asian trading.
- The Magnificent Seven megacap tech stocks lost approximately $797 billion in market value on Thursday.
- Alphabet increased its 2026 capital expenditure forecast to between $195 billion and $205 billion.
- The sell-off in tech stocks dragged the S&P 500 down 1.2% and the Nasdaq 100 down 1.9%.
- Bitcoin's resilience during the equity rout suggests a possible, though unproven, decoupling from the AI trade.
- Ether, Dogecoin, XRP, and Solana experienced modest losses compared to equities.
Bitcoin held near $65,000 in Friday's Asian trading, showing little movement despite a sharp sell-off in major U.S. technology stocks. The Magnificent Seven group of megacap tech stocks lost approximately $797 billion in market value on Thursday, their worst day since April 2025, dragging the S&P 500 and Nasdaq 100 lower. This decline left the group 11% below its late-May peak, erasing $2 trillion in value.
A primary driver for the sell-off was concerns that Big Tech is spending on artificial-intelligence infrastructure faster than profits can justify. Alphabet raised its capital expenditure forecast to as much as $205 billion for this year, and Tesla CEO Elon Musk described 2026 as a 'massive capex year' as the company reported profits below expectations.
These concerns have recently tied bitcoin closely to the AI trade, with the cryptocurrency often trading as a proxy for the AI capital cycle. However, Bitcoin's resilience during this equity rout hints at a possible, though unproven, decoupling. The largest cryptocurrency traded at about $65,400, down less than 1% on the day but up 3% on the week. Ether slipped 3% to $1,879, while other major cryptocurrencies like Dogecoin, XRP, and Solana also saw modest losses.