Bitcoin fell below $60,000 on Wednesday, shedding roughly 4% in the prior 24 hours as a broader selloff in technology and semiconductor stocks collided with market expectations of higher Fed rates.
The move follows a sharp pullback in AI-related equities and chip names, which have been trading near all-time highs. When equities of that stripe sell hard, crypto—already volatile—tends to follow. Investors rotated out of riskier bets across the board, and Bitcoin bore the brunt alongside Ether, which posted a steeper decline.
Fed rate expectations shifted during the session. Rising probability of a rate hike pushed up bond yields and weakened appetite for speculative assets. Bitcoin has no yield and requires conviction; higher rates make that conviction harder to maintain in the short term.
Bitcoin's market-cap-weighted price hovered near $61,469 according to market data, though spot prices varied across exchanges. The sell-off is not unusual for an asset class that trades 24 hours a day and responds quickly to macro crosscurrents.