Cryptocurrencies Slide as Bitcoin Falls Below $90,000 Amid Renewed Market Anxiety

Cryptocurrency markets came under pressure on Thursday, with bitcoin slipping below the $90,000 mark as renewed concerns about profits linked to artificial intelligence weighed on global technology stocks. The drop followed a wave of risk aversion that began after US cloud computing company Oracle issued a weaker-than-expected earnings outlook.

Oracle’s latest forecast missed market expectations on both profit and revenue, while company executives highlighted rising expenses tied to AI-related infrastructure. The update signalled that major investments in AI systems are taking longer than anticipated to generate meaningful returns, unsettling investors who had driven a rally in technology shares earlier in the week.

Bitcoin fell 2.5% to $90,056.24 during Thursday’s session, reversing gains from the previous two days and extending the downturn that began after the US Federal Reserve announced its latest interest rate cut on Wednesday. Ether, the second-largest digital asset, declined 4.3% to $3,196.62.

Asian stock markets reacted sharply to the overnight developments, with major indices closing lower. Futures trading pointed to weaker openings in both European and US markets as investors assessed the implications of slower profit growth in the technology sector.

Analysts said the decline in crypto prices suggests investors remain cautious after the volatility triggered by a steep sell-off on October 10. Tony Sycamore, market analyst at IG in Sydney, said digital assets were struggling to keep pace with broader gains.

“What we saw last night was even though risk assets were doing well, crypto didn’t really want to know about it,” Sycamore said. “The crypto space really needs to see more convincing evidence that the washout we saw from that October 10 selloff is complete, and at this point in time it just doesn’t look like it’s there.”

The retreat in prices also follows a revised outlook from Standard Chartered, which earlier this week cut its long-term forecast for bitcoin. The bank had previously predicted that the cryptocurrency could reach $200,000 by the end of 2025 but reduced that target to $100,000.

Geoff Kendrick, the bank’s global head of digital assets research, said corporate buying by companies holding bitcoin in their treasuries had likely ended, meaning future gains would depend more heavily on inflows into exchange-traded funds.

“We think buying by Bitcoin digital asset treasury companies is likely over,” Kendrick said. “As a result, we now think future Bitcoin price increases will effectively be driven by one leg only – ETF buying.”

The latest turbulence reflects renewed uncertainty in markets that had recently seen a resurgence of optimism, raising questions about whether digital assets can sustain momentum while confidence in the technology sector remains fragile.