Bitcoin extended its weekly decline to over 13%, briefly trading as low as $61,559, as Strategy chairman Michael Saylor attributed the selloff to a massive capital rotation into artificial intelligence. The cryptocurrency last changed hands around $63,429, dragging down crypto-linked equities such as CleanSpark (CLSK), which fell 5.11% to $16.71 after a Q2 earnings miss.
“Capital markets are funding the AI buildout at historic scale,” Saylor posted on X. “This is a capital rotation, not a Bitcoin impairment. Volatility creates opportunity.” He pointed to more than $4.3 billion in outflows from Bitcoin ETFs since May 14, noting the products have not seen a single day of positive inflows since May 13 and are now negative year-to-date. The broader crypto market cap slid 3.1% to $2.29 trillion, with total liquidations reaching $1.74 billion—including $635 million in long positions—according to CoinGlass and CoinGecko.
The selloff also hit Strategy (MSTR), whose shares dipped 15% to around $128, while its preferred stock offering (STRC) fell below its $100 par mark to $95.35. The company recently sold a small portion of its Bitcoin holdings, unloading 32 BTC for $2.5 million, which analysts said could weaken market conviction. Meanwhile, CleanSpark reported a Q2 2026 net loss of $378.3 million, driven largely by non-cash write-downs on its Bitcoin treasury, with revenue missing estimates at $136.4 million versus a consensus $145.4 million. Its gross margin stayed above 40%, and operational hashrate reached 50.0 EH/s with 224,473 miners deployed, producing 671 BTC in May. The company holds 13,470 BTC as of May 31. Institutional investor Situational Awareness raised its CLSK stake from $16.6 million to $104.5 million, now holding 12.28 million shares.
Technically, CLSK remains 32.6% above its 200-day SMA despite the dip, with a golden cross still intact. However, the macro backdrop of capital flight into AI and persistent ETF outflows continues to pressure the crypto market, sparking debate over whether this is a temporary correction or a more sustained rotation away from digital assets.
