Bitcoin rose and then fell following Nvidia’s earnings release on Wednesday afternoon, mirroring the behavior of the broader market. The Silicon Valley chip behemoth posted better than expected results for its fourth quarter, briefly causing its stock to rise 1%, and caused Bitcoin to shoot above $70,000 for the first time in weeks.
That all changed on Thursday morning. Bitcoin sank to about $66,000, and Nvidia’s stock plummeted about 5%, dragging the S&P 500 and other major indexes down with it. Despite the tech company’s strong earnings, investors remain wary of a potential artificial intelligence infrastructure bubble.
“Risk appetite remains the dominant headwind across asset classes,” said Matt Howells-Barby, VP at Kraken. “The relatively muted response in equities following Nvidia’s earnings reinforced that cautious tone, and any additional negative catalysts could weigh further on risk assets, including crypto.”
The price of Bitcoin tracking the traditional stock market is the latest sign that the original cryptocurrency is not acting like a risk-off asset. When indices like the S&P 500 have gone down recently, Bitcoin has sunk even further. For example, in the last month, the S&P 500 is down 1% and the original cryptocurrency is down 25%.
The latest pullback in Bitcoin prolongs a brutal stretch for cryptocurrencies dating back to October. That’s when the largest cryptocurrency reached its all-time high of $126,000, riding the wave of President Donald Trump’s more favorable stance toward the sector.
Other cryptocurrencies have also been burned since the fall. Ethereum is down 33% in the last three months to its current price of about $2,000, and Solana is down 40% during that time to its current price of $85, according to Binance.
Several experts say that the one certainty with Bitcoin is continued whiplash in its price.
“The signal going forward: Bitcoin is in a volatility regime,” said Boris Alergant, head of strategic initiatives at Babylon Labs. “Until market-making depth normalizes, BTC will remain highly sensitive to ETF flows, macro prints, and idiosyncratic news—with larger swings in both directions.”
