Bitcoin little changed at $77k as rate pressure clashes with diversification case
Bitcoin was marginally higher on Sunday but was sitting on a weekly loss of over 3%, with elevated interest-rate expectations weighing on crypto as investors also assessed the case for adding the token to portfolios increasingly concentrated around artificial intelligence.
Bitcoin has struggled to regain momentum as higher bond yields and expectations that interest rates will remain elevated increase the relative appeal of dollar-denominated assets.
A longer-term portfolio argument offered some support to the outlook. Bitcoin Suisse said surging AI investment has concentrated investor exposure in a relatively small group of technology companies at the same time as rising government debt has weakened the traditional diversification benefits offered by bonds.
Major U.S. hyperscalers are expected to spend more than $800 billion on AI this year and over $1 trillion in 2027, according to the firm’s Crypto Wealth Management Report 2026. U.S. federal debt has also crossed $40 trillion, adding another consideration for investors assessing conventional stock-and-bond portfolios.
Bitcoin Suisse argued that bitcoin could provide a different source of portfolio risk rather than act as a conventional safe-haven asset. Its historical modelling showed annualised returns on a traditional portfolio rising from 6.2% without bitcoin to 7.2% with a 1% BTC allocation funded from bonds. A 2.5% allocation lifted returns to 8.6%.
The wider crypto sector also faced fresh scrutiny after digital bank Revolut disclosed customer information in response to a fraudulent government request. The exposed data included identity documents, residential addresses and full transaction histories, including bitcoin activity. Customer funds remained safe.
Stablecoin adoption was also in focus. Ripple’s RLUSD circulating supply has climbed to about $2.4 billion, up more than 50% over the past month, with daily activity reaching roughly $750 million last month from about $200 million at the beginning of 2026.
Ripple sees corporate treasury operations as a major potential market for RLUSD. Its roughly 1,200 Ripple Treasury customers handle about $13 trillion in transactions annually, providing a large pool of traditional financial activity that could shift toward blockchain-based payments and settlement.
