Major cryptocurrency companies held firm Tuesday even as the macro tape turned sharply against risk assets.
bitcoin traded just over $81,000 in Asian morning hours on Tuesday after briefly touching $82,026 overnight. Solana (SOL) and were the most prominent among the main ones, with an increase of up to 2% on the day. BNB added 1.7% to $662, XRP held at $1.46, up 0.9% on the day, while ether fell 0.8%.
Investor Michael Burry, who became famous on The Big Short for rating the 2008 housing crash, warned in a Substack post that the Nasdaq 100 is trading at 43 times earnings, well above the implied level of around 30 times, and compared the current setup to “the scene of the bloody car crash, minutes before it happens.”
Burry pointed to the Philadelphia Semiconductor Index’s 70% rally since late March as the centerpiece of what he called a parabolic rise in technology valuations, advising readers to take profits and reduce exposure to AI trading.
“Wall Street may be overstating the earnings of our fastest-growing and most valued companies by more than 50%,” Burry wrote.
Brent crude rose nearly 1% to above $105 a barrel after President Donald Trump cast doubt on the ceasefire with Iran in his remarks on Monday, fueling concerns that the Strait of Hormuz closure could be prolonged. The 10-year Treasury yield rose to 4.42% and the dollar strengthened against all of its Group of 10 peers on safe-haven demand.
Stock markets across Asia retreated from record highs. The Kospi fell as much as 5.1% intraday after a top South Korean policymaker proposed paying citizens a tax-funded dividend on AI profits, and the comments fueled wild swings as investors tried to analyze the scope of the proposal.
The MSCI Asia Pacific Index swung between gains and losses. European futures pointed to a 0.6% loss at the open. U.S. futures fell after the S&P 500 closed at a record high on Monday, capping a six-week winning streak that gained more than 16%, the strongest streak since the global financial crisis.
Bitcoin’s price action will likely be tested later on Tuesday when investors watch US inflation, which will show the extent to which war-driven price pressures have passed through to consumer prices and could shape the outlook for the Federal Reserve’s interest rate decisions.
A hot number on top of fresh tensions with Iran and Burry’s bearish call would put real pressure on the AI trading thesis underpinning the stock rally, while a soft print buys risk assets including cryptocurrencies another week of space.
