Crypto Reporter
Shalini Nagarajan
Crypto Reporter
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Bitcoin slipped 3% on Wednesday to $76,000 as investors carried a sour mood into the Asia session after a tech-led sell-off hit US benchmarks and encouraged a shift toward more economically sensitive industries.
In early trade, Japan and Australia opened lower, and futures pointed to losses in Hong Kong.
Market snapshot
- Bitcoin: $78,719, up 2%
- Ether: $2,334, up 1.8%
- XRP: $1.61, up 0.5%
- Total crypto market cap: $2.72 trillion, up 2.6%
Software Rout Drags US Indexes Lower As Rotation Away From Big Tech Deepens
Overnight, falling software names pulled down the S&P 500 and the Nasdaq 100, even as most stocks in the S&P 500 finished higher and value shares continued to outpace growth in 2026 amid a broader rotation away from the “Magnificent Seven”.
The damage started with legal software and data services. Experian, London Stock Exchange Group and Thomson Reuters tumbled, and the selling spread across the wider software sector, sending the iShares Expanded Tech-Software Sector ETF down about 4.5%.
The slide picked up pace late in the session after Advanced Micro Devices sank in after-hours trade on a disappointing sales forecast. Traders also stayed cautious ahead of earnings from Alphabet and Amazon later this week, as investors demanded clearer payoffs from costly AI spending.
Crypto Markets Mirror Global Risk Aversion As Bitcoin Slips
Crypto traders watched the same risk-off undercurrent spill into digital assets. Bitcoin fell for a second day and extended an almost four-month slide, and investor Michael Burry warned that a drop through key thresholds could trigger cascading liquidations and wipe out value.
Tony Severino, market analyst at YouHodler, said Bitcoin remains locked in a tightening range, and he pointed to a signal building on longer timeframes.
“Bollinger Bands on the monthly chart are the tightest they have ever been, reflecting an extreme level of volatility compression,” he said. “At the same time, Bitcoin continues to trade below the monthly basis line, with only days left before a monthly close that would confirm acceptance beneath it.”
Across markets, the shared theme this week looks less about direction and more about pressure building under the surface. Currency volatility has risen. The dollar has softened.
Software Stocks Slide As AI Competition Spurs Fresh Investor Jitters
Metals have held extreme levels without a clear break, and Bitcoin has stayed stuck in one of the tightest volatility regimes in its history, conditions that tend to frustrate short-term traders while signalling markets are working off time rather than trend, he said.
On Wall Street, the focus tightened on software makers seen as vulnerable to AI-driven competition after Anthropic rolled out a legal tool for its Claude chatbot. Nvidia and Microsoft each fell almost 3% as the S&P 500 software and services index slid 3.8% for a fifth straight session.
Away from tech, pockets of the market showed more resilience. FedEx extended a record-breaking rally, and Walmart pushed past $1 trillion in market value. Palantir jumped almost 7% after strong quarterly results, while PepsiCo gained 4.9% after announcing price cuts on core brands like Lay’s and Doritos.
In other moves, oil climbed after the US Navy shot down an Iranian drone heading toward an aircraft carrier in the Arabian Sea.
Federal Reserve officials kept the rate outlook in play. Tom Barkin said policy easing has bolstered the jobs market as officials turn back to getting inflation to target, and Stephen Miran said the absence of strong price pressures means rates need to be lowered again this year.
