Crypto Range-bound as Equities Rally on AI Cycle
Bitcoin started this week in a state of limbo, stuck between $62,470 and $66,000. The price action has been range-bound for five weeks now, with no clear direction.
The cryptocurrency market as a whole followed the macro backdrop, which turned out to be constructive for equities but had little impact on crypto. July's Consumer Price Index came in at 3.4% year-on-year, and nonfarm payrolls were revised to a net loss of 23,000. This cooling labor market lowers the odds of further rate hikes.
The S&P 500 and Nasdaq rallied to fresh records on this data, driven by an unprecedented AI capital cycle with combined 2026 capex from the big-four hyperscalers guided above $725 billion. However, crypto captured none of it.
For institutional desks, the flow channel is a crucial signal. It has just reversed: last week saw $1.1 billion in spot Bitcoin ETF inflows, but this week's net outflows amount to about $377 million, pushing the price back below $63,000.