Bitcoin slips to $81,400 after biggest spot ETF inflow in nearly a month
In brief
- Bitcoin slipped to around $81,400 on Tuesday, down 0.5% since midnight UTC.
- U.S. spot bitcoin ETFs drew $526.6 million Monday, their largest daily inflow in nearly a month.
- South Korea's Kospi fell 3.73% as SK Hynix and Samsung declined on AI spending worries.
- Ether fell 0.9% to near $2,385; CoinDesk's DeFi index dropped 1.2%.
ETF demand didn't show up in the price
Monday's flows were strong. U.S. spot bitcoin exchange-traded funds attracted $526.6 million in inflows on Monday, CoinDesk reported, which it called the largest daily inflow in nearly a month. That bid didn't carry through to Tuesday's price action, with BTC giving back 0.5% from midnight UTC to trade near $81,400.
Chipmakers led the selloff in Asia
Asia had a rough session. South Korea's Kospi fell 3.73% to its lowest close since April 7, according to CoinDesk, as SK Hynix and Samsung Electronics declined on renewed worries over AI spending that weighed on chipmakers' shares. Nasdaq 100 futures fell 0.31%.
The wider backdrop wasn't much calmer. Brent crude was near $110 a barrel as Houthi attacks on Saudi Arabia kept supply risks in view, per CoinDesk, and roughly 70 S&P 500 companies are scheduled to report earnings this week (General Motors before the bell and United Airlines after the close).
Altcoins tracked BTC, DeFi lagged
Altcoin losses were broadly in line with bitcoin's. Ether fell 0.9% to near $2,385. CoinDesk's broad CoinDesk 80 (CD80) lost 0.34%, compared with a 0.33% drop for the bitcoin-heavy CoinDesk 5 (CD5), so there's very little daylight between the large caps and the rest of the market right now.
DeFi was the exception.
The sector's index (DFX) dropped 1.2%, giving back Monday's lead and posting the weakest performance among CoinDesk's benchmarks. DeFi went from Monday's best-performing CoinDesk benchmark to Tuesday's weakest, and it did so on a day when the rest of the crypto market barely moved.
