Bitcoin Falls Below $62,000 as AI Stocks Rally and ETF Outflows Worsen
Bitcoin, the world’s largest cryptocurrency, fell 1.7% to $61,721.0 as of 02:42 ET (06:42 GMT) on Thursday, slipping below the $62,000 threshold and hovering near a 1‑½‑year low first reached earlier in June. The price had briefly dropped below $60,000 on Wednesday before stabilising.
Spot Bitcoin exchange‑traded funds (ETFs) experienced a net outflow of $469 million on Wednesday, the biggest single‑day outflow since June 2 and the seventh consecutive week of withdrawals, indicating waning interest from both institutional and retail investors. Glassnode data highlighted that Bitcoin continued to trade at a significant discount on the Coinbase platform relative to the global average, suggesting limited retail demand in the United States.
The crypto market’s weakness coincided with a pronounced shift of capital toward artificial‑intelligence‑related equities and semiconductor stocks. Global chipmakers rallied sharply after memory‑chip maker Micron Technology reported strong earnings, underscoring the AI pivot.
Other major cryptocurrencies showed modest declines: Ether slipped 1.2% to $1,652.47, while XRP, Solana, Cardano and BNB each fell slightly. Among meme‑coins, Dogecoin dropped 2.2% and $TRUMP declined 1.6%.
Investor attention is now centred on the upcoming U.S. Personal Consumption Expenditures (PCE) price index, the Federal Reserve’s preferred inflation gauge, scheduled for release later on Thursday. The Fed’s June meeting delivered hawkish signals, and market participants anticipate that the PCE data will influence the central bank’s future interest‑rate trajectory, with higher rates generally adverse to non‑yielding assets such as cryptocurrencies.