Bitcoin Slides to About $81,000 as Risk Appetite Fades

Bitcoin fell about 4% on Thursday to roughly $81,000, while Ether dropped about 4.7% to near $2,380. The decline came alongside the broader sell-off in technology shares, and reports pointed to hundreds of millions of dollars in crypto liquidations.

The slide weighs on crypto-linked equities, including miners such as Riot Platforms and brokerage platforms such as Robinhood. Riot had been trading volatile near $83,000 bitcoin earlier in the week.

Gold also fell about 2.7% to near $4,038 an ounce and silver dropped about 5%, suggesting a broad pullback across risk and alternative assets. Traders will watch whether bitcoin holds the $80,000 area.