BlockBeats News, May 17th. Crypto analyst Marcel Pechman stated in a post that on Friday, Bitcoin swiftly fell after being rejected at $82,000, dropping below $79,000. The movement was highly synchronized with the US small-cap stock index, indicating that macro factors were the main drivers of this decline. The Russell 2000 Index covers small and medium-sized companies with higher capital costs, making them more sensitive to interest rate trends. The high correlation between Bitcoin and this index suggests that the market currently views Bitcoin as a risk asset rather than a safe haven tool. The Bitcoin perpetual contract funding rate briefly went deep into negative territory on Thursday and remained close to 0% on Friday, with a persistent absence of long leverage demand. This indicator has been below the neutral threshold of 6% for several weeks in a row, and multiple attempts to break through $82,000 have failed to boost market confidence.

A series of macro pressures have been stacking up: the outcome of the US-China summit disappointed the market, as apart from committing to accelerate US agricultural exports over the next three years, no specific tariff agreement was reached. Meanwhile, the ongoing Iran war continues to weigh on market sentiment, with Brent crude oil prices jumping from $99 to $106 over the past week, further intensifying inflationary pressures. In addition, the inflation-adjusted Shiller PE ratio shows that the S&P 500 Index is currently only about 5% lower than the peak of the dot-com bubble in January 2000, indicating a noticeable contraction in overall market risk appetite.

However, the large-scale sell-off in the fixed income market may provide mid-term support for Bitcoin. Japan's 10-year government bond yield has risen to the highest level in over 20 years, and the eurozone's 10-year government bond yield has also jumped to 3.18%, reaching a 15-year high. Analysts believe that to address the risk of economic recession, central banks around the world may be forced to inject liquidity, and funds flowing out of fixed income may eventually seek other asset allocations, benefiting Bitcoin in the process.