Bitcoin consolidates after 3% loss as AI fears stoke fresh stock-market weakness

Bitcoin (BTC) ranged below $82,000 into Friday’s Wall Street open as stock markets slid further on AI financing concerns.

Key points:

• Bitcoin struggled to rebound after falling more than 3% on Thursday. It briefly dropped below $81,000.
• AI infrastructure spending remained a persistent market concern as neocloud infrastructure provider CoreWeave slid to 17-month lows.
• Crypto market downside liquidated $280 million worth of long positions in 24 hours, while Bitcoin exchange-traded fund (ETF) outflows hit $635 million.

Analysis warns of AI “credit stress” contagion

Data from TradingView showed BTC/USD stabilizing after shedding 3.2% on Thursday, falling as low as $80,840 on Bitstamp.

BTC/USD one-hour chart. Source: Cointelegraph/TradingView

Market nerves over AI-sector profitability and the cost of insuring large players against default reemerged this week. CoreWeave, a neocloud provider, was among the biggest decliners, down 15.5% week to date at the end of Thursday’s US trading session, its lowest levels since May 2025. A price target downgrade by Bernstein from $74 to $51 contributed to the pressure.

“The spread of credit stress across the neocloud infrastructure sector has triggered broader equity market weakness as institutional investors evaluate capital expenditure commitments and profitability across technology firms dependent on AI infrastructure expansion,” crypto trading company QCP Capital wrote in analysis.

CoreWeave stock one-day chart. Source: Cointelegraph/TradingView

On Friday, fresh downside impacted Asian equities markets. South Korea’s KOSPI Composite Index opened at 5,402 points before dropping as low as 5,305 points, marking its lowest levels since late July. It finished the session 0.3% higher on the day.

KOSPI Composite Index one-day chart. Source: Cointelegraph/TradingView

Speaking to CNBC on Thursday, Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang spoke of a “scarcity of capital” impacting the neocloud buildouts in particular. 

“The demand [for] the capital is much greater than the availability of the capital,” he said.

Previously, Cointelegraph reported on lower-than-expected capital expenditure by Tesla despite Q3 earnings broadly conforming to market expectations.

QCP Capital stated that the capex figures “reinforced concerns that elevated financing costs will constrain the pace of artificial intelligence infrastructure buildout and potentially reduce expected return profiles for capital-intensive projects.”

Crypto long liquidations elevated in slide below $81,000

Capital flows into ETF products reacted strongly to the recent price moves within Bitcoin’s local trading range between $80,000 and $87,000.

Related: Bitcoin ‘top buyers’ halt BTC price upside with $87.7K now key: Glassnode

On Thursday, the US spot Bitcoin ETFs saw net outflows of $635 million, the largest single-day drawdown since late June.

Data from CoinGlass, meanwhile, revealed that traders were caught off guard when BTC/USD returned toward the lower boundary of its range. Cross-crypto liquidations totaled $336 million over 24 hours to noon UTC, including $281 million of long positions.

BTC/USD vs. crypto liquidations (screenshot). Source: CoinGlass