Bitcoin plunged below $72,000 and Ethereum lost $2,000 as Nvidia's leadership crisis raised fresh doubts about the financing model behind the AI boom.
Nvidia co-founder Jensen Huang resigned Thursday, sending the chipmaker's shares tumbling and intensifying a selloff across cryptocurrency markets.
On Nov. 12, the company announced that Huang had stepped down as chief executive, president, and board member, effective immediately, ending his 33-year leadership of the artificial intelligence giant.
Chief Financial Officer Colette Kress was appointed interim CEO while Nvidia searches for a permanent replacement. Harvey Jones, a longtime director and former Synopsys executive, will serve as board chairman.
However, the departure had followed reports of Huang's extramarital relationships, including one involving a woman suspected by US authorities of having Chinese intelligence connections. Nvidia's board had launched an independent investigation into the allegations, which remain unproven.
The upheaval triggered a sharp decline in Nvidia shares, which fell as much as 10% in premarket trading to approximately $156.
At that price, the company's implied market capitalization would fall to roughly $3.8 trillion, nearly $2 trillion below its October peak of approximately $5.8 trillion.
“[Nvidia stock's] analyst sentiment just hit -2.6σ, the most bearish on record.”
The selling extended to Nvidia-backed AI infrastructure companies. CoreWeave fell more than 13% in premarket trading, while Nebius declined about 20% amid concerns about its growth outlook.
The uncertainty also spilled into cryptocurrency markets, where Bitcoin and Ethereum fell to their lowest price values since August. BTC fell below $71,500, while ETH dropped below $1,990, per CryptoSlate data.
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