Bitcoin's 'Digital Gold' Story Cracks as AI Sell-Off Drags It Back to the Nasdaq

Bitcoin fell 5.5% to around $75,200 on 5 November, the same day the Nasdaq Composite dropped 5.5% to 24,315. The matching moves undercut the case that Bitcoin had decoupled from tech stocks to trade like gold.

The Nasdaq's close left it 11.9% below its 6 October record, putting the index in correction territory. It was the worst day since April 2025. The Nasdaq 100 fell 6.4%, the Philadelphia Semiconductor Index slumped 12%, the S&P 500 lost 4.4% and the Dow dropped 3.4%. An estimated $2.5trn came off US market value, with the Magnificent Seven losing about $1tn.

The selling spread to Asia. Japan's Nikkei 225 slid 6%, taking it more than 20% below its June record and into a bear market. The VIX rose to 28.2.

Bitcoin's move was driven by institutional selling of BTC ETFs, which triggered leveraged liquidations, according to market reporting. That is a mechanics story, not a safe-haven story. The asset that was supposed to hedge a tech drawdown fell by the same percentage as the tech index.

For UK investors, the sell-off put investment trusts with heavy growth and AI exposure in the frame. Scottish Mortgage reported a 31.5% half-year investment return but said little directly about the market storm, emphasising it is best held by long-term investors who can withstand volatility. Pershing Square's Bill Ackman took the other side, saying he sees opportunity in a market increasingly dominated by AI enthusiasm and arguing investors are overlooking high-quality businesses with strong earnings growth.

Those two responses frame the debate: fortitude through a drawdown, or a bet that the AI trade's dominance is fading. Neither is a forecast. Both are positions taken by managers with capital at stake.

What the day does not settle is whether Bitcoin's correlation with tech is durable or a single-session artefact. One day of matching moves is not a regime. It is, however, enough to puncture the claim that the decoupling had already happened.