Bitcoin falls below $72,000 after Nvidia CEO resignation

By Daniel Okafor

Bitcoin fell below $72,000 as crypto derivatives liquidations exceeded $745 million over 24 hours, including approximately $630 million in long positions, according to CoinGlass data. Ethereum briefly fell below $2,000, Solana traded near $81 and XRP hovered around $1.02.

The move followed Nvidia’s announcement that Huang had resigned as CEO, president and board member, effective immediately. Nvidia appointed Chief Financial Officer Colette Kress as interim CEO while it searches for a permanent replacement and named Harvey C. Jones its first board chairman.

Huang’s departure came amid investigations into two reported extramarital affairs. One involved Alice Huang, a former executive at Singapore-based Megaspeed International whom US intelligence officials suspect of spying for China. The other involved Kimberly Powell, Nvidia’s vice president of healthcare, according to a New York Times report published Wednesday.

China has denied the espionage allegations. Nvidia previously said it had "no reason to believe company secrets or national security had been compromised."

What changed in chip and AI infrastructure stocks?

The leadership shakeup weighed on semiconductor and AI infrastructure stocks. Micron fell about 2.5%, Marvell Technology dropped 3.8%, Sandisk lost 6%, and Western Digital declined 3.7%. AI hardware suppliers Lumentum, Coherent and Dell recorded losses of approximately 3% to 5%.

AMD and Broadcom gained 3.7% and 5.6%, respectively, as investors assessed whether Nvidia’s leadership disruption could benefit rival chipmakers. Their gains contrasted with losses across semiconductor and AI infrastructure stocks.

Selling also spread to AI cloud providers, commonly known as neoclouds. CoreWeave fell more than 9%, reversing part of Wednesday’s rally following its earnings report. Nebius plunged approximately 16% after lowering its revenue outlook to the bottom of its previous guidance range. IREN and Applied Digital also traded lower.

What do the ETF flows show?

US spot crypto ETFs saw continued selling. Bitcoin funds recorded $299.8 million in net outflows on Wednesday, bringing redemptions over the past five trading sessions to approximately $1.44 billion, according to Farside Investors. Spot Ethereum ETFs registered another $144.8 million in outflows Wednesday, bringing their five-session total to approximately $524 million.

The figures mark two separate channels of pressure: capital left US spot ETF products while CoinGlass counted liquidations across crypto derivatives. The broader decline cut total crypto market capitalization by approximately 2.7% over 24 hours to $2.38 trillion, according to CoinMarketCap data.

What could sustain the pressure?

The latest declines reversed part of Wednesday’s rebound, when CoreWeave’s stronger earnings helped lift AI infrastructure stocks. Investors were already weighing rising borrowing costs, heavy data-center spending and the sustainability of AI infrastructure investment.

For Nvidia, the immediate task is completing the CEO search. For investors, the open question is whether rising borrowing costs and heavy data-center spending undermine the sustainability of AI infrastructure investment.

The next trading session will show whether ETF outflows and leveraged selling persist as investors assess Nvidia’s interim leadership and the financing burden of AI data centers.