Bitcoin slid below $60,000 and Ether fell harder still on Wednesday, as a selloff in AI and semiconductor stocks and rising bets on a Federal Reserve rate hike pushed investors out of risk assets across the board.
Bitcoin dropped about 4% over the prior 24 hours, slipping under the $60,000 level for the first time in roughly two weeks, while Ether fell about 5%, according to data from CoinGecko. The broad crypto market followed equities lower: total value locked in DeFi protocols fell to about $69.3 billion from roughly $73.2 billion a day earlier, a one-day drop of about 5%, DefiLlama data show.
The immediate trigger sat in equity markets. The Nasdaq Composite closed the prior session down about 2.2%, dragged lower by a sharp drop in semiconductor and AI-linked shares, with a closely watched chip index falling roughly 8%.
Compounding the equity weakness, traders sharply raised the odds of a Federal Reserve rate hike this year after the central bank held its target range at 3.50% to 3.75% but dropped its easing bias. Higher rates lift the dollar and raise the opportunity cost of holding non-yielding assets, a headwind for Bitcoin and Ether alike. The U.S. Dollar Index climbed to its highest level in more than a year.
