Bitcoin Climbs Past $77K As AI Slowdown Fears Rattle Tech Stocks

Bitcoin pushed above $77,000 on Monday even as technology and AI-linked stocks slid in pre market trading, after top industry leaders called for a slower pace of AI development over the weekend. Rising oil prices added extra pressure across markets.

Ether gained roughly 1%, moving above $2,500. This came as broader tech shares moved lower, showing a split between crypto and traditional markets.

AI Leaders Urge Caution

Anthropic’s CEO Dario Amodei pushed for the AI industry to slow down so safety measures can keep pace with rapid growth. OpenAI’s Sam Altman and Elon Musk, who leads xAI, both backed the idea. Separately, Anthropic reportedly picked Nasdaq for its future public listing, while Altman confirmed OpenAI won’t go public this year.

Global Markets Feel The Impact

South Korea’s Kospi index fell 3%, and chipmaker SK Hynix dropped 6%. In the US, the Nasdaq-tracking Invesco QQQ ETF slipped 1.5%. Cloud computing firms Nebius and CoreWeave lost 6% and 5%, while chip companies Sandisk and Intel each fell 5%.

Oil prices climbed sharply, with Brent crude up more than 3% to $107 a barrel and WTI above $103. Meanwhile, gold slipped nearly 1% to around $4,300 an ounce, and silver dropped 1.5%.