BitMart Research Weekly Hotspot Analysis: AI Storage in US Stocks Becomes New Main Theme, Crypto Market Rebounds in Tandem

1. Macro Economy and Traditional Financial Markets

1.1 U.S. Stock Market Recovers Driven by Tech Earnings, AI Remains Core Pricing Theme

This week, the U.S. stock market experienced a pullback followed by a rally. Early in the week, sentiment was cautious ahead of the FOMC decision and non-farm payroll data. Subsequently, earnings reports from major tech companies mostly exceeded expectations, boosting risk appetite. The Nasdaq and S&P 500 hit new highs again, while the Dow briefly surpassed the 50,000-point mark during trading. Microsoft Azure, Amazon AWS, and Apple all reported better-than-expected results, continuing to validate AI cloud demand and the earnings resilience of tech bellwethers. In contrast, although Meta's revenue exceeded expectations, its AI infrastructure capital expenditures were significantly higher than market estimates, raising concerns among investors about profit margins and free cash flow, putting pressure on its stock price. Overall, the U.S. stock market remains jointly driven by AI capital expenditure, tech earnings, and liquidity expectations.

1.2 This Week's Major Trading Theme Shifts from "Computing Power" to "AI Storage Supercycle"

The strongest narrative in the U.S. stock market this week was not traditional AI computing power, but AI storage. The massive amount of data generated by AI training and inference is driving global data centers to accelerate the expansion of DRAM, NAND, and nearline hard drive demand. Seagate disclosed that its nearline storage capacity is nearly fully booked through the end of 2027, reinforcing market expectations of tight storage supply and demand. Targets like SanDisk, Seagate, Western Digital, and Micron Technology have seen significant gains year-to-date, with traditional hard drive and flash memory manufacturers being repriced as core AI infrastructure assets. Pure Storage also gained attention due to the "power wall" bottleneck in data centers, with all-flash and low-energy solutions becoming a direction for catch-up rallies. However, the storage sector has already seen substantial short-term gains, with the rally incorporating both fundamental improvements and narrative premiums. Going forward, attention needs to be paid to the sustainability of cloud provider orders, the pace of capacity release, and profit-taking risks.

1.3 Fed Holds Interest Rates Steady, Market Focus Shifts to Non-Farm Payroll Data

The Fed kept the federal funds rate unchanged at its April meeting, with the statement continuing to emphasize inflationary pressures and policy caution, indicating the committee is not eager to adjust the policy path in the short term. There were clear divisions within the meeting, with some members objecting to signaling accommodation, while others advocated for earlier rate cuts. On the employment front, ADP employment data and initial jobless claims continue to show a resilient labor market, but market expectations for April non-farm payroll additions are significantly lower than March, reflecting that corporate hiring intentions are being suppressed by policy uncertainty. The upcoming non-farm payroll data will directly impact market judgments on the rate-cut path for the second half of the year. A significant weakening in employment could boost risk assets by heating up rate-cut expectations; conversely, stronger-than-expected data could re-escalate interest rate pressures.

1.4 Geopolitical Risks Temporarily Ease, Falling Oil Prices Improve Global Risk Appetite

Iran's proposal for a peace framework, coupled with the U.S. advancing oil tanker escort arrangements, has led to a temporary reduction in risks related to the Strait of Hormuz. The rapid decline in oil prices alleviated market concerns about an inflation rebound and served as a key external catalyst for the simultaneous rise in U.S. stocks and Crypto this week. However, oil prices rebounded on May 7, and there are still disputes over ceasefire implementation, indicating that the geopolitical situation has not yet completely stabilized. If energy prices rise again in the future, it could reignite inflationary expectations and disrupt risk asset pricing.

2. Crypto Market Trends and Ecosystem

2.1 BTC Back Above $80,000, Market Risk Appetite Clearly Restored

The Crypto market continued its rebound this week, with Bitcoin reclaiming the $80,000 level, reaching a high of approximately $82,320, a new cyclical high. It is important to note that the current price remains significantly below its previous all-time high, so this round is better understood as a cyclical rebound driven by restored risk appetite and institutional capital inflows, rather than a breakout to new highs. Ethereum's performance largely tracked Bitcoin, with the ETH/BTC ratio slightly improving but remaining at low levels. This indicates that the market's focus remains on BTC and a few narrative-driven sectors, with altcoins yet to see broad-based momentum.

2.2 ETF Inflows and Improved Derivatives Structure Shift Market to Short-Term Bullish

A key support for this round of BTC rebound comes from returning institutional capital. Bitcoin spot ETF net inflows reached a cyclical high in April. The Morgan Stanley-related Bitcoin trust, launched recently, continues to attract capital without significant redemptions, indicating sustained institutional allocation demand. In the derivatives market, funding rates have turned from persistently negative to neutral to slightly positive. Open interest is expanding alongside the price increase, and put premiums in the options market are narrowing, suggesting easing short-side pressure and a shift in market sentiment towards bullishness. However, the increase in leverage also implies that short-term volatility could amplify.

2.3 AI Storage Narrative Spills Over from U.S. Stocks, FIL, AR, STORJ Rally Collectively

The strong performance of U.S. storage stocks quickly spilled over into the Crypto market, leading to a collective rally in decentralized storage tokens like Filecoin, Arweave, and Storj. The market is mapping the logic of AI data demand driving tight supply and demand in traditional storage onto on-chain storage protocols, driving up trading volumes and open interest for FIL, AR, and STORJ simultaneously. However, it is important to note that unlike U.S. storage stocks backed by earnings and orders, the crypto storage sector is currently more driven by emotional resonance and narrative. On-chain fundamentals have not been fully validated yet. If real storage demand, protocol revenue, and effective usage rates fail to keep pace with price performance, the sector could face downward correction pressure.

2.4 Crypto Policy and Institutional Infrastructure Continue to Advance

This week also saw several developments on the policy and institutional front. The CLARITY Act has entered the Senate markup process, meaning the regulatory framework for the U.S. crypto market structure continues to move forward. Provisions related to stablecoins, exchange classifications, and ETFs will be key points of focus moving forward. BNY Mellon launched compliant custody services for BTC/ETH in Abu Dhabi, demonstrating that traditional financial infrastructure is further extending services to institutional and sovereign wealth fund clients in the Middle East. Meanwhile, the market continues to trade expectations related to a U.S. Strategic Bitcoin Reserve. If related policies are truly implemented later, it could become a new sentiment catalyst for BTC.

2.5 DeFi Risk Events Enter Governance and Liquidation Recovery Phase

In the aftermath of the Kelp DAO hack incident, Aave recovered some funds through its decentralized liquidation mechanism, and Arbitrum's on-chain governance also supported unfreezing related ETH. This event shows that the governance, liquidation, and asset recovery capabilities of DeFi protocols are being tested in real-world extreme risk scenarios. In the short term, these handling efforts help stabilize market confidence. Over the medium to long term, cross-protocol risk isolation, governance efficiency, and liquidation mechanisms remain key areas for continuous improvement within the DeFi ecosystem.

This article is solely a market trend analysis and does not constitute investment advice. Digital asset investments carry high risk. Investors must make prudent decisions and bear the associated risks themselves.