Macro jitters from an emerging AI disruption trade are compounding crypto-native weakness, with majors posting 8-11% weekly losses across the board.

Bitcoin slid to around $62,900 on Tuesday, down 2.1% on the day and 7.5% on the week, extending a grinding move lower that has so far refused to produce either a clean breakdown or a strong bounce.

The price action has pinned the market inside the $60,000-to-$70,000 band that formed after the Feb. 5 flush — a range that is starting to feel less like a base and more like a holding pattern waiting for a catalyst.

Altcoins are faring worse. Ethereum traded near $1,829, down 8% on the week. XRP fell 10.8%, Solana’s SOL shed 11.3%, and dogecoin dropped nearly 10%. The underperformance across majors reflects a market where risk appetite is shrinking toward bitcoin and even that bid is thinning.

CryptoQuant flagged sell-side pressure among altcoins at five-year highs, suggesting holders are actively distributing into a market where buyers remain scarce outside of the largest cap.

That kind of structural selling tends to grind prices lower without the dramatic liquidation candles that attract dip buyers, making it a slower bleed that is harder for momentum traders to position around.

FxPro chief market analyst Alex Kuptsikevich said in an email bitcoin’s recent attempt at recovery is shaping up as consolidation rather than reversal. He pointed to a bearish pennant forming on the daily chart, noting that a move below the mid-$65,000 area would confirm downside continuation while a break above $70,000 would invalidate the pattern.

More broadly, he described the $60,000-to-$70,000 range as historically significant — a zone that acted as the ceiling for the entire 2021 cycle and now appears to be serving as a battlefield between long-term accumulators and newer holders cutting losses.

AI fears return

Adding to the pressure is a macro dynamic that has nothing to do with crypto directly but is draining the same pool of risk capital.

A Citrini Research report flagged an emerging “AI scare trade” this week, warning of widespread economic disruption from artificial intelligence across delivery, payments, and software sectors. The note triggered selling in tech-adjacent equities as investors reassessed which companies benefit from AI adoption and which face displacement risk.

That kind of broad risk recalibration tends to hit crypto on a lag. Digital assets don’t always sell off in lockstep with equities, but they are sensitive to the same shifts in liquidity and positioning that drive risk-off moves — and right now, the mood in both markets is pointing the same direction.

Bitcoin is now 48% below its October all-time high and sitting 5.5% below its 2021 peak of $69,000. The longer it trades in this range without reclaiming higher ground, the more the technical picture tilts toward the bears.

Satlantis has launched as a Bitcoin-native events and ticketing platform that embeds Lightning wallets directly into user accounts and events, allowing organizers to issue tickets and receive payments in Bitcoin without relying solely on traditional payment processors.

According to an announcement shared with Cointelegraph, the platform functions similarly to services like Luma and Eventbrite, offering ticket tiers, attendee management and event pages, but automatically generates a unique Bitcoin (BTC) wallet for each event to facilitate direct payments and withdrawals.

Satlantis also integrates with Stripe to process fiat payments and said it plans to add stablecoin support, allowing organizers to accept Bitcoin, traditional currency or both through a single dashboard.

According to Satlantis’s crowdfunding page, investors in the startup include Bitcoin Opportunity Fund and Timechain Capital, a venture capital fund dedicated to Bitcoin infrastructure projects.

Using Lightning Network to cut fees

The company said its model is a way to reduce ticketing fees and expand access in regions where traditional payment rails are limited, using Bitcoin’s Lightning Network to enable low-cost, cross-border transactions.

The Lightning Network is a layer-2 protocol built on Bitcoin that enables faster, lower-cost transactions by processing payments off-chain.

According to data cited recently by River marketing director Sam Wouters, the network’s transaction volume reached an estimated $1.1 billion across 5.2 million transactions in November.

Related: How many people actually pay with Bitcoin? Real use cases revealed

Crypto’s expanding role in ticketing and live events

Efforts to integrate cryptocurrency into ticketing predate many current Web3 platforms, with sports teams and travel companies experimenting with digital-asset payments for more than a decade.

In sports, the Sacramento Kings became the first NBA team to accept Bitcoin for tickets and merchandise in 2014. The Dallas Mavericks followed in 2019 after owner Mark Cuban signaled plans to support crypto payments, ultimately allowing fans to purchase game tickets with Bitcoin.

Beyond payment acceptance, blockchain companies are also experimenting with how live events are financed and settled. TIX, the onchain settlement network behind KYD Labs, aims to turn tickets into tokenized real-world assets that can be used to access upfront capital and automate repayment flows.

Major sporting bodies have also explored blockchain-based ticket-linked products. FIFA, the global governing body for soccer, has experimented with non-fungible token (NFT) initiatives tied to its tournaments. NFTs are unique blockchain-based tokens that verify ownership of a specific digital asset.

Ahead of the 2026 World Cup, FIFA sold “right-to-buy” NFTs granting holders a reserved window to purchase match tickets at face value if certain conditions are met. The tokens are not tickets themselves but can be traded on FIFA’s NFT marketplace. 

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