Bitcoin Retreats as Tech and Precious Metals Suffer Sharp Losses
The strong link between cryptocurrencies and the software sector resurfaced on Wednesday, pushing bitcoin (BTC $70,086.22) back toward last week’s lows. After briefly topping $70,000, bitcoin surrendered its recent gains and is now trading near $65,000.
Over the past 24 hours, bitcoin fell roughly 2%, while ether (ETH $2,093.00) and solana (SOL $86.67) posted similar declines.
The downturn echoed broad weakness in the Nasdaq, which dropped 2% on Wednesday. The software-heavy iShares Expanded Tech-Software Sector ETF (IGV) led the losses with a 3% slide, bringing its year-to-date decline to 21%. Investors continue to question lofty software valuations as AI-driven coding capabilities advance rapidly.
“Software stocks are struggling again today. IGV is essentially back to last week’s panic lows,” said macro strategist Jim Bianco. He added, “Don’t forget there’s another type of software, ‘programmable money’ — crypto. They are the same thing.”
Precious metals also suffered sharp mid-afternoon declines. Silver plunged 10.3% to $75.08 per ounce, while gold fell 3.1% to $4,938, wiping out earlier modest gains.
