Investors Shift Some Capital From AI Back to Crypto?

U.S. spot Bitcoin exchange-traded funds recorded six consecutive trading days of net inflows totaling about $930 million, including $203.1 million on the most recent day. The streak, the longest for the funds since April, coincided with Bitcoin briefly trading above $67,000 and a rise in market sentiment from “extreme fear” to “fear” on the Crypto Fear & Greed Index.

Since their January launch, the U.S. spot Bitcoin ETFs have attracted $51.8 billion in cumulative net inflows and held $80.9 billion in net assets at the most recent reporting, while year-to-date net flows remained negative by $4.84 billion. Analysts have noted that Bitcoin would need to hold roughly $65,000–$65,500 to strengthen the case for a sustained breakout.

The inflow streak came as the Philadelphia Semiconductor Index, a benchmark for chipmakers tied to artificial intelligence work, fell more than 20% from its recent high. Some market participants linked the ETF inflows to a reallocation of speculative capital as investors became more selective among AI-related stocks, favoring firms with clearer earnings prospects.

Regulatory developments also aligned with the market moves. U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent described lawmakers as at the “1-yard line” on the CLARITY Act, legislation intended to establish a regulatory framework for digital assets. Announcements about potential regulation coincided with double-digit percentage gains for several crypto-linked stocks, including Coinbase, American Bitcoin, and Cipher Digital.

Parts of the crypto sector reported business shifts tied to AI demand. Bitcoin miners and infrastructure firms disclosed large AI-related contracts and leases. Hut 8 announced a 15-year lease for an AI data center campus valued at $9.8 billion, and IREN disclosed roughly $2.8 billion in cloud services contracts with AI developers. IREN projected more than $4 billion in annual recurring AI cloud revenue by the end of 2026. These disclosures were followed by share-price increases at Hut 8, IREN, Cipher Digital, CleanSpark and Marathon Digital Holdings.

Consultants and analysts flagged financing and execution challenges for companies pursuing AI infrastructure. Blocksbridge Consulting estimated the sector may require about $50 billion in additional capital to meet stated AI infrastructure goals. Observers also noted a rise in insider stock sales in some firms within the space.

In separate coverage of financial services, Bernstein raised its price target on Robinhood to $160 from $130 and maintained an Outperform rating. Bernstein projected prediction markets could generate $1.7 billion in revenue by 2028 and identified tokenized equities and perpetual futures as potential growth areas, citing Robinhood’s Arbitrum-based layer-2 network as infrastructure for on-chain products.

Market participants emphasized that continued ETF demand, clearer regulatory outcomes and sustained price support would be factors to watch in determining whether recent flows mark a lasting shift of capital away from AI and toward crypto.