Bitcoin Surges Past $78K as Crypto Markets Defy AI Stock Selloff
Bitcoin surged to $78,280 on Monday as the broader cryptocurrency market defied weakness in technology stocks and rising oil prices. The digital asset rose by as much as 1.9% from midnight UTC, while Ether climbed 2.1% and XRP gained 3.3%. The CoinDesk 100 index saw its broadest advance in two weeks, with nearly all constituents trading higher.
The gains in the crypto market contrasted with losses across traditional markets. Nasdaq 100 futures dropped 1.65%, S&P 500 futures declined 0.7%, gold fell 0.8% and silver lost 1.7%. The U.S. Dollar Index strengthened 0.5%, while technology stocks came under pressure after Anthropic CEO Dario Amodei called for slowing development of the most advanced artificial intelligence models due to safety concerns.
Nvidia dropped 2.4% in premarket trading, Intel fell 5.6% and Marvell Technology sank 6.3%. South Korea's Kospi also declined by 3.26%. The rally in crypto markets suggests growing bullish sentiment, with derivatives data indicating aggregate open interest stood at $59.7 billion.