Bitcoin’s selloff – Bitcoin extended its selloff into Wednesday after Strategy Inc. sold a small slice of its Bitcoin hoard, undercutting the market’s belief in chairman Michael Saylor’s “never sell” stance. The move landed when equities—especially the Nasdaq 100—were hitting fre
Bitcoin’s slide didn’t need a headline-sized trade to spook the market. It only took 32 coins.
By late New York trading on Wednesday, Bitcoin fell as much as 4% to $64,692—its lowest level since Feb. 28. The drop deepened a week-long retreat that has erased more than $160 billion in market value.
The immediate trigger was Strategy Inc.’s sale of about $2.5 million worth of Bitcoin earlier in the week. The sale was tiny compared with the company’s holdings—32 tokens out of a hoard of 843. 706 Bitcoin—but it landed like a crack in a belief system. Strategy chairman Michael Saylor has long promoted a “never sell” stance. and the sale punctured sentiment in a way investors were watching closely.
Rajiv Sawhney. head of international portfolio management at Wave Digital Assets. put it plainly: “Strategy selling 32 BTC for $2.5 million is financially trivial. a rounding error against its $62 billion position.” His point went further than the math. “What it signals to the market, given Bitcoin’s underperformance in recent weeks, matters more.”.
That contrast is part of why the selloff has felt bigger than the number of coins sold. The weakness in Bitcoin has been widening against the latest leg higher in equities. The Nasdaq 100 Index climbed to a fresh record on Tuesday. highlighting a growing divergence between the original cryptocurrency and technology stocks.
Bitcoin had once been treated by many investors as a high-beta proxy for tech, but that relationship has weakened since a market crash in October last year. The rotation has become especially stark as artificial-intelligence stocks pull in capital.
The Nasdaq 100 is up 41% over the past 12 months. Bitcoin, by comparison, is down 38% and sits 48% below last year’s peak.
Carney Mak. a partner at FXHB Asset Management. described what’s happening in portfolio terms: “We have been rotating some capital from Bitcoin and digital assets into AI equities.” He said AI currently offers “a more compelling risk-reward profile relative to digital assets. ” prompting some investors to rebalance portions of their portfolios.
On-chain signals also suggest the makeup of buyers has shifted since May. Glassnode data show that during the rally early last month. accumulation was led by holders with 1. 000 to 10. 000 Bitcoin—often associated with larger institutions. In June, those buyers have become less active. Smaller wallets and the largest whales have shown greater willingness to accumulate into the market weakness.
Even with that accumulation attempt, the market still lacks a clear near-term catalyst. Mak said crypto currently has no strong near-term catalyst, with performance increasingly range-bound and driven by liquidity and macro conditions. He also pointed to delays in some crypto-related initial public offering plans. while AI companies continue to draw investor demand and market momentum.
The shift is showing up in corporate moves too. Nasdaq-listed K Wave Media announced last month it would abandon plans to deploy roughly $500 million into Bitcoin and redirect most of the capital toward AI data centers. GPU infrastructure and related acquisitions. Crypto miner Bitdeer also liquidated its entire Bitcoin treasury to fund expansion into AI and high-performance computing businesses.
The sell pressure is visible beyond spot trading. Investors have pulled nearly $4 billion from US-listed Bitcoin exchange-traded funds over the past 12 sessions—described as a record streak of consecutive outflows. Over the past 24 hours. about $1 billion in bullish crypto positions in perpetual futures has been wiped out. according to Coinglass data.
For a market that has leaned in part on the belief that its biggest holders would keep accumulating, Strategy’s modest sale has taken on outsized importance. The worry now is whether the disclosure has altered the psychology behind one of Bitcoin’s most important support stories.
Mak’s view of a more liquidity-and-macro-driven market fits the feeling spreading through crypto circles: the trade is starting to look less like a steady accumulation engine and more like something that can unwind quickly.
Already, many upstart Bitcoin accumulators that emerged in Strategy’s wake are divesting tokens or coming under pressure to do so, raising the prospect of a disorderly unwind of the trade. Public companies hold a combined 1.24 million Bitcoin, according to one tally.
The concern is not limited to Strategy’s own balance sheet. Strategy shares are down 18% this week and more than 70% from their peak. If confidence erodes further, pressure could extend beyond the company’s stock.
Leveraged and income funds tied to Strategy shares—including MSTU, MSTY and MSTX—could face amplified volatility if investors begin questioning the sustainability of the company’s accumulation strategy, said Pratik Kala, a portfolio manager at Apollo Crypto, a digital-asset hedge fund.
Kala described the mechanics in the language markets often use when volatility feeds on itself: “It’s a vicious feedback loop.” He said the decline in MSTR is hitting the exchange-traded funds built around it. including MSTY. MSTU and MSTX. “As losses mount, investors pull money from those funds, further souring sentiment toward the broader MSTR trade.”.
Bitcoin is still trading into a day when the original “tech proxy” narrative looks more fragile than before. and when even a sale measured in 32 tokens can shift how investors interpret the next move. The question hanging over the market now is simple—and it’s the kind that can tighten fast: if the biggest holder premise starts to wobble. how quickly does confidence follow?.
Bitcoin Strategy Inc Michael Saylor MSTR MSTY MSTU MSTX Bitcoin ETF outflows Coinglass perpetual futures AI stocks Nasdaq 100