Crypto sells off as the global tech rout spills into digital assets, Bitcoin nears $62,000

Cryptocurrencies tumbled on Tuesday as the global selloff in technology stocks spilled into digital assets, dragging Bitcoin to its lowest level in nearly two weeks and triggering a fresh wave of forced liquidations. The move underscored how closely the largest cryptocurrencies have come to trade in step with risk-sensitive equities during bouts of macro stress.

Bitcoin fell about 2.5% to around $62,300, dipping below the $62,000 mark for the first time in roughly two weeks, while Ether dropped more than 4%. The retreat rippled across the broader market, with altcoins posting sharper losses and roughly $717 million in leveraged positions wiped out, amplifying the decline as exchanges automatically closed out trades that could no longer meet margin requirements.

The catalyst lay outside crypto. A rout in technology shares that began on Wall Street and deepened across Asia, where South Korea's market plunged about 10%, sent investors scrambling out of richly valued, liquidity-sensitive assets. The same two forces pressuring equities, doubts about whether the heavy spending on artificial intelligence will pay off and fears that the Federal Reserve may keep rates higher for longer or even raise them, weighed on Bitcoin, which has increasingly behaved like a high-beta bet on risk appetite rather than the independent safe haven its supporters once envisioned.

The drop extended what was shaping up to be Bitcoin's sharpest weekly decline in about three weeks, and it left some analysts warning of further downside. One closely followed commentator flagged the risk of a move toward $54,000, pointing to a bearish technical pattern, though such calls remain speculative and depend heavily on whether the broader risk-off mood persists.

The episode fits a pattern that has defined crypto markets for much of the year. Bitcoin's major drawdowns have repeatedly coincided with strength in competing assets and with shifts in expectations for monetary policy, as investors recalibrate how much to allocate to speculative holdings when the cost of money looks set to stay elevated. Leverage has tended to magnify those swings, turning orderly pullbacks into rapid cascades once key technical levels give way.

For now, the market's direction appears tethered to forces well beyond the crypto ecosystem itself. With a closely watched US inflation reading due later in the week and the technology selloff still unresolved, traders are watching macro signals more than any crypto-specific development. A stabilization in equities or a softer inflation print could ease the pressure, while continued turmoil in risk assets would likely keep digital currencies on the back foot.

The selloff also coincided with a busy stretch on the regulatory and infrastructure front, from advancing digital-currency frameworks in Europe to a US legislative push touching on central bank digital currencies, a reminder that even as prices gyrate on macro headlines, the longer-term plumbing of the industry continues to evolve in the background.