Summary of this article
Bitcoin fell sharply as investors shifted money into AI and equities.
Market outflows from ETFs and corporate selling increased pressure on Bitcoin.
Altcoins and crypto market also declined amid weakening investor sentiment overall.
Bitcoin is trading lower in early-year sessions, as investors continue to shift capital toward AI-linked equities and upcoming market listings. The digital asset has moved down in double digits over the past week, reflecting broader price movement across the crypto market during the ongoing trading period.
The digital asset is down 15.33 per cent this week, marking its sharpest weekly decline since November 2022, when the collapse of trading platform FTX triggered a broader crypto sell-off. At $62,531.22, Bitcoin has now lost nearly one-third of its value so far in 2026, its worst start to a year since at least 2015, according to a Reuters report.
The recent weakness is also being influenced by moves from major corporate holders. Strategy, the largest corporate holder of Bitcoin, recently disclosed that it had sold part of its holdings for the first time since 2022, adding to pressure on the market.
Market observers say Bitcoin appears to be moving out of its earlier momentum phase, as assets that were once highly sought after have begun losing relative appeal. “It is instructive to see how assets can struggle as they move from being the flavour of the month to being suddenly out of fashion,” RBC BlueBay Asset Management’s chief investment officer Mark Dowding said in a blog.
Bitcoin, which touched record highs above $126,000 late last year, is also about 50 per cent lower than its all-time high and around 40 per cent below its level when US President Donald Trump took office in January 2025. Previously, optimism was driven by pro-crypto policy expectations and regulatory appointments, but sentiment has since cooled.
In the past year, US semiconductor stocks have risen 170 per cent, while Bitcoin has declined. Investors have also been pulling money out of Bitcoin exchange-traded funds (ETFs) at a record pace, with net outflows exceeding $2.7 billion in the week to Thursday, taking total 2026 outflows to $3.10 billion, according to data from LSEG.
In contrast, Bitcoin’s market dominance has fallen to 56 per cent, down from 63 per cent a year ago, as investors diversify into ether, altcoins, and stablecoins amid shifting market dynamics.
Other major cryptocurrencies also declined over the past week, with Ethereum down 19 per cent to $1,653, Binance Coin falling 17 per cent to $593, and Solana slipping 21 per cent to around $65, reflecting broad weakness across the crypto market.
