Bitcoin holds near $81,000 as AI spending fears drag chip stocks and trigger long liquidations

23 Oct 2026

23 Oct 2026, 15:10 UTC+02:00

Markets TradeReviewed News Desk

Bitcoin (BTC) spent Friday trading below $82,000 after a 3.2% drop on Thursday, as a fresh wave of worry about artificial intelligence spending pushed stock markets lower. The slide briefly took BTC/USD as low as $80,840 on Bitstamp, according to TradingView data cited by Cointelegraph, before price action calmed into the Wall Street open.

AI financing fears spread from chips to crypto

The pressure started in equities. The Philadelphia Semiconductor Index fell 6.8% and Nvidia shares lost 4.4%, cutting the company’s market value to around $5.12 trillion, Watcher.Guru reported. The hardest hit were so-called neocloud companies, which rent GPU computing power to AI developers. CoreWeave fell about 10% in the session and was down 15.5% for the week by Thursday’s close, its lowest level since May 2025, after Bernstein cut its price target from $74 to $51. Applied Digital, IREN and Nebius also dropped between 7% and 9%.

Trading firm QCP Capital described the move as credit stress spreading across the neocloud sector, with institutional investors reassessing capital spending and profitability at tech firms that depend on AI infrastructure. Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang told CNBC that demand for neoclouds remains strong but that the missing piece is working capital to fund their growth.

The weakness carried into Asia on Friday. South Korea’s KOSPI dropped as low as 5,305 points, its lowest since late July, before closing the session 0.3% higher.

Long liquidations and ETF outflows

Crypto traders were caught leaning the wrong way. CoinGlass data showed about $336 million in liquidations across crypto over 24 hours to noon UTC, of which roughly $281 million were long positions. US spot Bitcoin ETFs also posted net outflows of $635 million on Thursday, the largest single day of withdrawals since late June.

Bitcoin has been trading in a range between roughly $80,000 and $87,000, and Thursday’s drop pushed it back toward the lower edge of that band. For now, the market looks to be consolidating rather than breaking down, but the link to tech stocks is clearly strong this week.

What it means for traders

• Watch the range floor. The $80,000 area is the lower boundary traders are watching. A clean break below it could trigger another round of long liquidations, while a hold keeps the range intact.
• Tech stocks are driving sentiment. With BTC moving alongside Nvidia and AI infrastructure names, equity headlines and earnings can move crypto in the short term. Keep an eye on the stock market calendar, not just crypto news.
• Leverage is the risk. Most of the liquidated positions were longs. If you trade futures, use smaller size and set clear stop levels during periods when macro fear drives price.
• Choose your venue carefully. Fees, liquidation engines and order book depth matter most on volatile days. See how we test exchanges, compare BingX, OKX and Bybit, or browse our full exchange comparison.

Related reviews

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• Bybit review

Sources

• Cointelegraph: Bitcoin consolidates after 3% loss as AI fears stoke fresh stock-market weakness
• Watcher.Guru: Nvidia Stock Falls as Chip Index Sinks 6.8% on AI Spending Fears

News is for information only and is not financial advice. More crypto news