Bitcoin remained near $64,200 on Monday as traders weighed a sharp jump in oil prices against ongoing market disruption from Moonshot AI’s Kimi K3 release. Ether outperformed at $1,860, while most major tokens saw minimal movement.
The cryptocurrency market stayed mixed. XRP held near $1.09, Solana traded around $76, BNB eased to $565, and Dogecoin remained close to $0.07. HYPE fell 10% on the week to $60.
Oil and AI Reset Risk Appetite
Brent crude rose as much as 4% to $91.42 a barrel, its highest level since June, following wider US and Iranian strikes that extended beyond military targets. This surge revived inflation worries just after soft US price data had eased them. Rising oil prices also pressured risk assets across markets, including crypto.
At the same time, equities continued digesting Friday’s AI-led selloff. Moonshot AI’s Kimi K3, an open-weight Chinese model, took the top spot on a widely watched coding benchmark.
Crypto Follows the Broader Risk Trade
The Kimi K3 release hit semiconductor shares and pulled crypto lower into the weekend. The pressure spread into Asia on Monday, where South Korea’s Kospi fell 3.5% after a holiday break. US futures steadied later in the session. The Nasdaq 100 rose 0.5%, but the market still faced questions about the strength of the AI trade.
For crypto, the two shocks pulled in different directions. War-driven oil supported inflation concerns and rate pressure. Meanwhile, AI weakness hit chip stocks that bitcoin has tracked closely during the month.
With major US economic data largely out of the way, the focus this week shifts to corporate earnings. Alphabet reports on Tuesday, Tesla on Wednesday, and Intel on Thursday.
Armstrong Rejects Mining Alarm
Coinbase CEO Brian Armstrong dismissed Chamath Palihapitiya’s warning that AI demand could threaten Bitcoin mining. Armstrong said Bitcoin’s difficulty adjustment keeps price separate from hash power.
Palihapitiya argued that miners could earn 10 to 20 times more by selling electricity to AI operators. He described the shift as structural, while also saying he could be wrong. He also said marginal liquidity now favors prediction markets and equities over bitcoin, pointing to daily prediction market activity that often exceeds $300 million.
Armstrong answered that falling hash power does not determine Bitcoin’s price. He said the network adjusts automatically and keeps block production near ten minutes. He linked Bitcoin’s value to sovereign deficits rather than mining power. His remarks matched recent views that frame BTC as digital gold instead of a payments network.
Investors will now watch major corporate earnings for further market direction.
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