Bitcoin to $50,000? Strategy buys top crypto despite ghoulish price forecast as Citrini AI report rattles markets

Strategy has purchased another $40 million of Bitcoin, the firm announced Monday.

It now holds $55 billion of the top crypto at an average cost of $76,020 per coin and, with Bitcoin’s current price of $63,000, Strategy sits on nearly $10 billion in unrealised losses.

But despite the precarious position, Strategy’s executive chairman Michael Saylor brushed off concerns during an interview with crypto podcaster Natalie Brunell on Monday.

“You can think of us as dollar cost averaging,” Saylor said.

The digital asset treasury firm’s buying spree comes as Bitcoin’s price has been hammered by geopolitical turbulence, fears of economic chaos stemming from artificial intelligence disruption, and the unpredictability around the Trump administration’s policies.

The US president’s fresh tariff volley on Sunday “dispels the notion that Trump might’ve lost the taste for trade-warring,” Ed Yardeni, president of Yardeni research, said. “Where Trump takes tariffs now is anyone’s guess.”

“Ratcheting geopolitical tensions could likely prove bearish for Bitcoin in the short-term,” Matt Howells-Barby, VP of growth at Kraken, said in an investor note shared with DL News, projecting a possible drop to as low as $50,000.

On Tuesday, Bitcoin’s price fell another 3% to under $63,000, further extending a four-month losing streak. It is now down 50% from its October peak of $126,000.

“We are set to close six straight weeks of weekly red candles on Bitcoin for the first time since May 2022,” Howells-Barby said

Investors sold off over $1 billion in Bitcoin exchange-traded funds in February, adding to a $7 billion ETF losing streak since November, DefiLlama data shows.

Major hedge funds slashed 28% of their Bitcoin ETF holdings between Q3 and Q4, according to CF Benchmark.

Not just trade concerns

A dystopian report on AI by Citrini Research has gone viral and rattled markets.

Released Sunday, The 2028 Global Intelligence Crisis warns that the AI boom, while boosting markets for years, will ultimately hurt investors and crush the wider economy.

The report, co-authored by Citrini and tech entrepreneur Alap Shah, argues that if AI keeps advancing, it will trigger widespread white-collar layoffs, weakening consumer spending and slowing growth.

Stocks fell sharply after the note circulated, the Dow dropped more than 800 points and tech shares sank. IBM shares tumbled 13% on Monday, in the company’s sharpest one-day drop in 25 years.

BlackRock’s flagship tech ETF, which tracks industry leaders like Microsoft, Oracle, and Palantir, is down 24% year-to-date.

In its 2028 scenario, job losses spread beyond software, hitting housing and finance, and leading to a 38% S&P 500 crash.

The firm cautions that strong markets can mask economic damage, urging investors to reassess long-term risks tied to AI.

To be sure, Arthur Hayes says the AI apocalypse on the jobs market will end up being good for Bitcoin’s price.

In a February blog, the Maelstrom chief investment officer argued that the wipeout of white-collar jobs will mean that those unemployed people won’t be able to pay their mortgages and other debts.

This, he argued, will eventually force the Federal Reserve to step in and start to print money to avoid a repeat of the 2008 recession. When that happens, Hayes says Bitcoin’s price will go to the moon.

Crypto market movers

• Bitcoin is down 3.9% over the past 24 hours, trading at $63,357.
• Ethereum is down 3.1% past 24 hours at $1,826.

What we’re reading

• Bitcoin price dips under $65,000 after Trump fires fresh trade war volley — DL News
• OpenAI KYC provider accused of sharing users’ crypto addresses with federal agencies — DL News
• SEC Quietly Eases Capital Rules for Stablecoins — Unchained
• This week’s market-moving events — Milk Road
• Vitalik Buterin dumps over $8m Ethereum as price sinks below $1,900 — DL News

Lance Datskoluo is DL News’ Europe-based markets correspondent. Got a tip? Email him at [e-mail].