Bitcoin holds near $65,400 as tech rout wipes out $797 billion

Bitcoin held near $65,400 during Friday Asian trading, declining less than 1% even as $797 billion evaporated from US technology stocks.

Bitcoin traded at $65,400 as of 01:00 UTC Friday, down less than 1% in 24 hours, while the Magnificent Seven index lost $797 billion in market value.

"Bitcoin's relative stability during a broad equity selloff suggests the asset is behaving less like a risk-on trade and more like a non-correlated macro hedge," a CoinShares research note published Thursday said.

The Magnificent Seven index fell 4.8%, its steepest drop since the April 2025 tariff rout, as Alphabet Inc. slid 7.13% and Tesla Inc. plunged 14.52% after earnings disappointed. Brent crude surged past $100 a barrel after Iran-backed Houthis attacked two Saudi oil tankers in the Red Sea, pushing bond yields higher and fueling bets the Federal Reserve could raise interest rates as soon as next week.

Bitcoin's 3% weekly gain contrasts with the S&P 500's 1.21% decline on Thursday, a divergence that could accelerate if rising oil prices and geopolitical escalation drive further rotation out of equities. The next resistance sits at $66,500, with support at $64,000, according to CoinGecko data.

The selloff erased $797 billion from Apple Inc., Microsoft Corp., Nvidia Corp., Alphabet, Amazon.com Inc., Meta Platforms Inc. and Tesla — the seven stocks that powered much of the 2023-2025 bull market. Alphabet's capital expenditure outlook exceeded analyst estimates, raising concerns that the debt-fueled AI buildout may not deliver proportional returns.

Oil's surge above $100 a barrel added a second headwind. President Donald Trump threatened to escalate the Middle East conflict after Houthi attacks on Saudi vessels, raising the risk of sustained inflation that would keep interest rates elevated. Higher rates compress the present value of future earnings, a dynamic that disproportionately affects technology companies trading on long-duration profit projections.

Bitcoin's muted reaction to the equity rout marks a departure from 2022, when the cryptocurrency closely tracked the Nasdaq 100 during Federal Reserve tightening cycles. Open interest across major exchanges held steady near $38 billion, with funding rates remaining neutral at 0.005%, according to Coinglass data — suggesting no forced liquidations or panic selling.

The divergence could attract capital rotating out of mega-cap tech stocks, particularly if macro uncertainty persists through the Fed's next meeting on July 29-30. However, a deeper risk-off move that lifts the US Dollar Index could pressure Bitcoin, as the two have maintained an inverse correlation of -0.45 over the past 90 days, according to CryptoQuant data.

This article is for informational purposes only and does not constitute investment advice.