AI Selloff Erases $1.4 Trillion as Nasdaq Sinks

It was a punishing week for the trade that has powered this entire bull market. A chain-reaction selloff in artificial-intelligence and semiconductor stocks erased roughly $1.4 trillion in market value, dragging the Nasdaq to a fifth straight losing session and pulling the S&P 500 lower for a second consecutive week. Crypto fared no better, with Bitcoin sliding to its lowest level since September 2024, while oil collapsed to a four-month low and Binance moved to exit the European Union. Here is the full weekly recap, with traditional markets closed for the weekend and reopening Monday June 29.

The Weekly Scorecard

The headline was the rout in growth stocks. The Nasdaq Composite fell about 4.6 percent on the week to close Friday June 26 at 25,297.62, its fifth straight down session, while the S&P 500 dropped close to 2 percent to 7,354.02, per CNBC. The damage was highly concentrated: the Dow Jones Industrial Average actually rose about 0.6 percent on the week as money rotated out of expensive technology and into more defensive, value-oriented corners of the market. Commodities slid too, with WTI crude down about 11 percent to a four-month low near $68.86 and spot gold easing about 2 percent to roughly $4,063, a fourth straight weekly decline. Crypto traded all weekend and led the losses, with Bitcoin down about 6 percent near $60,100 after a midweek plunge below $58,000 and Ethereum off about 9 percent near $1,580. The throughline is a sharp repricing of risk, concentrated in the longest-duration AI names and amplified by a hot inflation print.

Story of the Week: The AI Trade Cracks

The defining story was a crisis of confidence in the AI build-out. The spark was a New York Times report that OpenAI may delay its public listing into 2027, citing SpaceX's poor performance since its own debut and broad volatility in AI-related shares, which hit sentiment across the chip complex, per TheStreet. From there the selling fed on itself. ON Semiconductor cratered more than 22 percent on Friday after announcing a $7 billion deal for Synaptics, and the broader semiconductor group bled all week. Even good news could not stop it: Micron posted record quarterly revenue of about $41.5 billion with gross margins near 85 percent and guided the current quarter to roughly $50 billion, per Investing.com, yet the stock's initial 15 percent pop faded as the wider tape rolled over. The memory crunch even reached consumers, with Apple and Microsoft raising prices on surging component costs. The market is wrestling with one question: whether the enormous capital pouring into AI infrastructure will earn an adequate return, and the answer this week was a loud expression of doubt.

Crypto's Rough Week

Digital assets absorbed the same risk-off pulse as equities and then some. Bitcoin plunged below $58,000 on Thursday, its lowest level since September 2024, after a hotter than expected core PCE inflation reading of 3.4 percent dimmed hopes for near-term Federal Reserve rate cuts and triggered more than $1.2 billion in leveraged liquidations across the market, per BeInCrypto. It has since clawed back to roughly $60,100, still down about 6 percent on the week. Ethereum was the bigger laggard, off about 9 percent near $1,580, weighed down further by news that the Ethereum Foundation is cutting 20 percent of its staff and 40 percent of its budget in a sweeping restructuring amid a run of senior leadership departures, per CoinDesk. For structure, the $58,000 area is the key reference zone that buyers defended this week, with the round $60,000 level the near-term pivot. Reclaiming and holding $60,000 would be the first sign the panic is stabilizing, while another loss of $58,000 would reopen the downside.

Regulatory Shift: Binance Exits the EU

The week brought a landmark regulatory development for crypto in Europe. Binance told customers it will halt services across the European Union from July 1 after failing to secure a license under the bloc's Markets in Crypto-Assets framework, known as MiCA, per CoinDesk. The exchange's original application, routed through Greece, was rejected over anti-money-laundering and governance concerns, and while Binance now plans to seek authorization in France, any approval is expected to land after the deadline. For EU residents, new spot orders, deposits, sign-ups, and staking-style products stop on July 1, though Binance stresses that existing funds remain accessible and withdrawals stay open, per Euronews. The episode is a clear signal that Europe's new rulebook has real teeth, and it underscores why traders watching any platform's regulatory standing matters as much as its fee schedule. It is a reminder, consistent with our exchange security guide, that no platform is permanently safe.

Commodities and Macro: Oil's Slide and a Hot PCE

Away from equities, two macro forces shaped the week. The first was energy. WTI crude fell about 11 percent to a four-month low near $68.86 as tanker transits through the Strait of Hormuz accelerated following progress on a US-Iran peace framework, restoring Persian Gulf exports toward roughly three-quarters of prewar levels and draining the war premium that had inflated prices for weeks. The second was inflation. Friday's core PCE reading came in hot at 3.4 percent, the kind of sticky print that keeps the Federal Reserve cautious and supports a firmer dollar, which in turn pressured gold to a fourth straight weekly decline near $4,063. The combination is awkward: cheaper energy is disinflationary at the margin, but a hot core services reading keeps the higher-for-longer narrative alive, and that tension sat at the heart of this week's repricing across both stocks and crypto.

The Week Ahead

Monday June 29 reopens US cash markets after a bruising stretch, and the central question is whether the AI selloff has found a floor or has further to run. Sentiment is fragile and the tape is oversold, so a sharp relief bounce is possible, but conviction will hinge on whether megacap technology can stabilize rather than lead another leg down. The macro calendar adds weight, with the new month bringing fresh labor-market data that will either reinforce or ease the higher-for-longer fears the hot PCE print revived. Bullish triggers to watch: semiconductor and AI leaders steadying on the reopen, Bitcoin reclaiming and holding above $60,000, and a softer set of incoming inflation and jobs readings. Bearish triggers to watch: a fresh leg lower in the Nasdaq, a break of Bitcoin's $58,000 reference zone, or another firm inflation surprise that lifts Treasury yields. After a week that erased more than a trillion dollars, the burden of proof sits squarely with the buyers.