Crypto Losers Mount: DOGE, Hyperliquid Slide as AI Sector Draws Demand

A rotation out of semiconductor stocks lifted the broader equity market, pushing the equal-weight S&P 500 to a record high. Crypto, however, failed to join the rally, with ether falling 8% on the week and memecoins dropping even more sharply.

Dogecoin and Hyperliquid’s HYPE led the declines, each losing nearly 10% as capital continued to shift toward AI-related equities and away from major digital assets.

Dogecoin fell 9.6% over the past week to about $0.076, while HYPE dropped 9.9%, marking the steepest losses among large-cap tokens. Ether declined 8.4% to around $1,581, and XRP slipped 7.8% to $1.06. In contrast, Solana and Tron showed relative resilience, ending the week roughly flat at $72 and $0.32.

Bitcoin held up better than most, down 5.3% to around $60,345 by Saturday after briefly dipping to $58,800 on Friday before rebounding, according to CoinDesk data.

“Bitcoin tested the $58,000 level late Thursday and early Friday, but strong buying quickly pushed it back toward $60,000,” said Alex Kuptsikevich, chief market analyst at FxPro. He noted the pattern reflects liquidation-driven drops followed by aggressive dip buying.

Kuptsikevich warned that weakening institutional sentiment and the ease of reducing crypto exposure could keep pressure on prices, with periodic sell-offs driven by leveraged traders.

The gap between crypto and equities remains clear. While digital assets struggled, Wall Street rotated out of high-flying chip stocks into a broader range of companies tied to steady growth.

The S&P 500 ended little changed overall, but most of its components advanced, lifting the equal-weight index to a record. Lower oil prices supported sentiment, while semiconductor stocks extended their pullback after a strong rally that still leaves them on track for a record quarter.

These moves suggest a broader shift in market dynamics. While enthusiasm around AI persists, concerns over stretched valuations are growing, challenging the idea of uninterrupted gains. Capital is rotating within equities rather than exiting risk assets entirely, with crypto failing to attract those flows.

Crypto-specific headwinds remain, including outflows from U.S. spot bitcoin ETFs, a hawkish Federal Reserve, and a strong dollar. Bitcoin continues to hover near its 200-week moving average, a level historically associated with extended periods of weakness.