The crypto market is under pressure due to intensified tech stock sell-offs, with Bitcoin once hitting its lowest level since October 2024.

According to a report by the Financial Times, driven by intensified sell-offs in tech stocks, Bitcoin has plunged to a 20-month low as market risk sentiment continues to weaken. Bitcoin briefly fell below $60,000, with an intraday drop of up to 5.4%, hitting its lowest level since October 2024. Over the past two years, traders have viewed $60,000 as a key support level. This sell-off follows widespread selling of large-cap tech stocks this week. Traders are betting the U.S. central bank will raise interest rates to tackle inflation; higher rates are likely to suppress risk appetite, prompting investors to re-evaluate overvalued assets and shift toward relatively safe assets. In recent years, crypto assets have been highly correlated with stock market moves, but this relationship is now under strain. Bitcoin and Solana have fallen 32% and 47% respectively this year, with no significant recovery even amid stock market rebounds. Part of the reason is declining retail investor demand for crypto, as they turn to chasing volatility in AI-related stocks. Gerry O’Shea, Head of Global Market Insights at crypto asset management firm Hashdex, noted that with large IPOs and AI stocks dominating the market, sentiment remains weak. Analysts currently do not see major catalysts for the crypto market. U.S. capital markets are still digesting SpaceX’s world’s largest IPO, which listed on Nasdaq earlier this month, with AI firms like OpenAI and Anthropic expected to follow. Meanwhile, the U.S. digital asset regulatory bill Clarity Act remains stalled in the Senate. The bill faces strong opposition from the banking sector and has not yet secured enough bipartisan support.