Cryptocurrencies started the shortened U.S. week on the back foot, with bitcoin BTC$67.701,60 sliding below $67,000 on Tuesday, falling below its tight weekend range of $68,000-$70,000.

The weakness coincided with a softer open for U.S. equities, especially for the battered software sector. The iShares Expanded Tech-Software Sector ETF (IGV) was 3% lower, and now 30% below the October high. Software stocks have been under pressure, with improving AI tools seen as a threat to their business models. Markets make opinions, and the current shibboleth says bitcoin is just software, so if AI is a threat to that sector, it's a threat to bitcoin as well.

Read more: Bitcoin's correlation with troubled software stock sector is growing

The broader Nasdaq fell 0.8%, and the S&P 500 fell 0.6%.

Meanwhile, the once-parabolic rally in precious metals continued to cool. Gold dropped 3% to around $4,860 per ounce, while silver tumbled another 6%, leaving it roughly 40% below its late-January peak.

Crypto-related equities also retreated, giving back part of Friday’s sharp bounce. Strategy (MSTR), the largest corporate bitcoin holder, fell around 5% with a simlar decline for USDC stablecoin issuer Circle (CRCL). Bitcoin miners and data center names Riot Platforms (RIOT), MARA, CleanSpark (CLSK), Cipher Mining (CIFR) and TeraWulf (WULF) all fell roughly 4%-5%.

Crypto in search of a narrative

Paul Howard, senior director at trading firm Wincent, said that crypto remains firmly tethered to macro sentiment.

“Macro news has been closely correlated with crypto's risk profile the last 12 months and expectations are that macro numbers remain soft, implying a risk-off trade mentality,” Howard said.

He pointed to the U.S. Supreme Court's ruling on tariffs expected later this week as a potentially bigger near-term catalyst than routine economic data.

For now, he expects more consolidation as bitcoin and the broader digital asset market search for a new narrative strong enough to pull capital back from AI stocks and commodities.

"Crypto has some work to do recreating itself as an appealing asset class and the relatively low prices are not attractive enough," Howard said.