Bitcoin retreats under $72,000 as AI trade keeps eating crypto's lunch

7:01 p.m., June 1 — Stephen Alpher

No letup in the AI trade as crypto continues to suffer. Most things AI-related are flying higher yet again on Monday, sucking up speculative capital that might have once flowed into crypto. Nvidia (NVDA) is up 6.2% after unveiling its RTX processor for personal computers, aimed at supplanting Intel and AMD. Other notable movers to the upside include Micron (MU), Broadcom (AVGO), and Oracle (ORCL). The tech-heavy Nasdaq is higher by 0.75%, on track for another record close, with the S&P 500 and DJIA also posting new highs. Also posting big gains are bitcoin miners who have, somewhat ironically, gotten out of the bitcoin mining business — turning their processors and data centers over to AI usage instead. HIVE Digital (HIVE) is up 10.1%, Keel Infrastructure (KEEL) up 8.7%, and Hut 8 (HUT) up 7.1%. Bitcoin is off its session low, but not by much, still down 3% over the past 24 hours at $71,300.