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U.S. stocks, gold, and Bitcoin all plummeted overnight—what happened?

Another night of sharp declines, with gold and silver prices crashing, the three major U.S. stock indices falling significantly, and Bitcoin dropping to the critical support level of 6500. Risk assets and traditional safe havens collapsed simultaneously, leaving global investors puzzled and asking: What happened?

👉Reason One: The Bubble of the U.S. Stock Market's "AI Narrative" Burst

Investor optimism about the AI boom fueled a bull market in U.S. stocks over the past three years, with tech companies and those involved in data center construction and related infrastructure seeing their stock prices soar. Despite the continuous three-year rally, many investors remained optimistic about the outlook through 2026, believing AI would start to broadly boost corporate profits this year. However, recent market sentiment has shifted to concerns about AI's disruptive potential, impacting industries such as software, legal services, and wealth management, prompting investors to reevaluate how they assess these companies' values. Meanwhile, skepticism about the massive capital expenditures on AI is also weighing on the stock prices of some of the world's largest companies, including Google, Amazon, and Microsoft. Google, Meta, Microsoft, and Amazon have all announced large capital expenditure plans, with these four tech giants expected to spend a combined $650 billion this year mainly on expanding AI infrastructure. Markets worry that tech giants may not see sufficient returns on these high investments, as both Microsoft and Amazon experienced double-digit declines after their earnings reports. The U.S. AI narrative has entered its second half: from widespread enthusiasm to a landscape filled with "hidden reefs."

👉Reason Two: Strong U.S. Employment Data and Concerns Over Federal Reserve Policy Shift

Data released on Wednesday showed that the U.S. labor market demonstrated resilience stronger than expected early in 2026, reinforcing the market consensus that policy interest rates will remain high for a longer period. Specifically, in January, non-farm payrolls increased by 130,000; December's job gains were revised down to 48,000; and the unemployment rate slightly declined to 4.3%. Additionally, the latest weekly data released on Thursday showed initial jobless claims falling to 227,000 for the week ending February 7, further indicating a resilient labor market.

Next, investors will focus on the upcoming U.S. inflation data to be released on Friday, seeking more clues about the Federal Reserve's policy path.

👉Reason Three: Gold Prices Surge and Crash—Has Gold Become a Risk Asset?

After experiencing an epic bull run, gold and silver prices recently faced a collapse, with continuous surges and plunges. This volatility has caused gold and silver to shift away from their traditional safe-haven status and move closer to risk assets. Going forward, market fluctuations may lead gold and silver to rise and fall alongside other risk assets.

👉Reason Four: Leading Cryptocurrency Exchanges Underperform Expectations

Cryptocurrency exchange Cbase reported a total revenue of $1.78 billion in Q4, down 22% year-over-year, compared to analyst expectations of $1.83 billion; adjusted earnings per share (EPS) for Q4 were $0.66, below the expected $0.86. More concerning is that Cbase's losses mainly stem from its cryptocurrency asset management division, with trading losses prompting comparisons to many previously failed crypto exchanges.

📊Market Outlook—A Crash Could Be a Good Buying Opportunity

👉Bitcoin—Key Support at 65,000 Holds

In yesterday’s article, we highlighted twice the importance of Bitcoin holding the lower band of the weekly Bollinger Bands at 65,000. Last night’s decline stopped at this level, followed by a rebound. Currently, on the daily chart, Bitcoin still has the potential to form a "double bottom" pattern. This could be a good entry point for long positions, with a stop-loss set below $65,000.

👉Gold and Silver—Potential Upside as U.S.-Iran Tensions Escalate

Geopolitical uncertainties continue to support gold prices. On February 12, 2026, U.S. President Trump stated he hopes the U.S. and Iran will reach an agreement within about a month and warned that failure to do so would have "very serious" consequences and be "very painful" for Iran. The Pentagon has instructed the second U.S. carrier strike group to prepare for deployment to the Middle East. If tensions with Iran worsen, gold and silver prices are likely to rebound, making now a potentially good opportunity to build long positions in precious metals.