Live updates: Bitcoin holds below $80,000 as AI buildout draws investor attention and capital

Mike Novogratz’s Galaxy Digital GLXY topped third-quarter earnings estimates, in part thanks to bitcoin’s gains during those three months, with treasury and corporate profit of $419 million versus a loss of $42 million the previous quarter.

The company also announced a fresh $200 million buyback authorization after having completed the previous one, with about 9.8 million shares bought back so far this year.

“The progress we're making across both businesses is strengthening and diversifying our earnings profile, while positioning Galaxy to capitalize on substantial growth opportunities,” said Novogratz in a press release.

The company said Phase II of its Helios I data center project is fully financed, under construction, and progressing on schedule. Discussions with prospective tenants regarding the additional 830 MW available at Helios II continue, with “market dynamics seen as increasingly favorable.”

Shares are higher by 4.5% pre-market, but remain lower by more than 30% over the past month.

“A brutal year for Bitcoin is just getting started,” wrote Jason Calacanis overnight. “We will test the $57,000 low in the next 12 months.”

“There are far too many dynamic places to put your money that are creating MUCH more value,” he continued. “Why put your resources into a dead network that offers nothing beyond a store of value?”

“Just sell and shift from Bitcoin to Super Intelligence because one provides little to no value, and the other provides unlimited upside for humanity.”

Calacanis then followed up his post with a bull call on Bittensor (TAO), citing the token’s focus on scaling AI. TAO has had its own struggles, dropping 25% over the past month and 38% over the last year.

Calacanis has previously called for the death of Bitcoin more than once, at far lower prices, as commenters on his X post quickly pointed out.

Two hours prior to the open of the U.S. stock market, bitcoin BTC$84,459.46 has slid back to $79,750, down 0.6% over the past 24 hours. Ether (EHT) and solana (SOL) are down similarly, but XRP (XRP) is higher by 1% after Ripple won a final go-ahead to launch its own U.S. national trust bank.

Bitcoin is now down 2.5% over the past week even as interest rates and Fed rate hike expectations have pulled back, and the price of oil has reversed some larger gains from earlier this month.

Equities have also turned higher, the Nasdaq gaining more than 1% yesterday and futures higher by 0.4% today.

The AI trade — it appears — is at least temporarily back, and drawing investor attention and capital. Just in the past 24 hours, Meta announced a $95 billion capital raise, and Anthropic filed for an IPO, with reports suggesting the company could aim to raise up to $100 billion. That’s nearly $200 billion that will be bet on AI, and not crypto.

Looking ahead, the Fed will complete its two-day policy meeting on Wednesday, and markets fully expect the U.S. central bank to hold rates steady.