Semiconductor ETFs Slide From Highs as Bitcoin Rebounds, Signaling Possible Shift in Investor Focus

Memory and semiconductor shares that surged in the first half of the year on the AI boom have pulled back sharply from recent highs, while Bitcoin has rebounded from its lows, raising the possibility that investor attention is starting to shift.

CoinDesk reported on July 3 that the Roundhill MEME ETF more than doubled in the first half, while the VanEck Semiconductor ETF gained 60%. Over the same period, BlackRock's iShares Bitcoin Trust fell 30%.

Recent price action has begun to diverge. The Roundhill MEME ETF has dropped about 25% from its record high on June 22, while the VanEck Semiconductor ETF is down 12%. Bitcoin fell below $58,000 on July 1 before recovering to the $61,000 range.

The decline in semiconductor-related stocks was influenced by news of a business restructuring at Meta Platforms. Bloomberg reported that Meta is setting up a new unit called Meta Compute to sell excess GPU computing capacity to external customers. The development dealt a blow to GPU rental companies that had benefited from expanding demand for AI infrastructure. IREN, Cipher Mining and TeraWulf, which shifted their businesses from Bitcoin mining to high-performance computing and GPU hosting, have each fallen more than 20% from their record highs.

CoinDesk said capital that had been concentrated in AI infrastructure for months had flowed out of digital assets, but the recent decline in major semiconductor names alongside Bitcoin's rebound could be an early sign that investors are beginning to rebalance risk exposure toward digital assets. It added that it is still too early to determine whether the move will turn into a sustained capital rotation.