Gemini co-founder Cameron Winklevoss urged investors to rotate into Bitcoin (BTC) and Zcash (ZEC) on Tuesday, declaring the AI trade over. The call came as South Korea's Kospi index closed down 10.84% at 6,023.66, with Samsung Electronics falling 13.4% and SK Hynix dropping 14.7%. DeVere Group CEO Nigel Green attributed the broader selloff to circular financing between Nvidia, OpenAI and Oracle, while Tuesday's specific trigger centered on China's semiconductor advances. CXMT's Shanghai debut on Monday, which closed up 466% and valued the DRAM maker near 3.3 trillion yuan, combined with reports of Chinese state-backed production of immersion DUV lithography machines to pressure Asian chip stocks.
CXMT IPO and China DUV Reports Trigger Tuesday Selloff
The Kospi finished at 6,023.66 after a circuit breaker halted trading for 20 minutes. Japan's Nikkei 225 lost about 4%, with Tokyo Electron shedding 10.96% and memory maker Kioxia falling more than 18%.
Changxin Memory Technologies (CXMT) closed its Shanghai STAR Market debut on Monday up 466%. The valuation near 3.3 trillion yuan passed Industrial and Commercial Bank of China as the most valuable mainland-listed company. CXMT's prospectus put its 2025 global DRAM share at 7.67%, fourth behind Samsung, SK Hynix and Micron.
Reports stated a Chinese state-backed firm has begun producing immersion deep ultraviolet (DUV) lithography machines. DUV equipment is the bottleneck tool that Western export controls were designed to withhold.
Tuesday reversed a recovery that had held through mid-July. The same chip names had rebounded from a selloff driven by memory valuation fears.
Nigel Green's Circular Financing Claims Fact-Checked Against Company Filings
Green's argument centers on who pays whom. Nvidia funds OpenAI. OpenAI buys cloud capacity from Oracle. Oracle then purchases Nvidia chips with the revenue.
"The same dollar gets counted as revenue three times on its way around the loop. This is not demand. It's an accounting trick wearing a growth story as a costume," deVere Group CEO Nigel Green stated.
Three of Green's supporting figures do not match primary filings and company statements. Green claimed Nvidia is valued at $4.5 trillion; the record shows roughly $5 trillion, with shares falling 5% to $195.44 on July 27. Green stated Nvidia committed up to $100 billion to OpenAI; the record shows a non-binding letter of intent, later restructured to a $30 billion equity stake. Green cited Oracle backlog "north of $500 billion"; the record shows $638 billion in remaining performance obligations, up 363% year over year.
Nvidia and OpenAI announced the 10-gigawatt partnership in September 2025. CEO Jensen Huang later told Fortune it was "never a commitment."
Oracle's backlog exceeds Green's figure. OpenAI's contract with Oracle exceeds $300 billion over five years and starts in 2027. S&P has warned that Oracle could hold long-term data center leases with no exit if that customer stumbles.
OpenAI is on pace for roughly $14 billion in losses this year against about $25 billion in annualized revenue. That revenue is up from $21.4 billion at the end of 2025.
Bloomberg reported Nvidia is now assembling more than $750 billion in fresh AI deals. One would backstop up to $250 billion of OpenAI compute leases at a US data center project.
Winklevoss stated on Tuesday: "The AI trade is over. A ton of capital is looking for a safe home. Time to rotate back into the hardest money in the universe: bitcoin and Zcash."
His Zcash position is not new. In April, he argued that investors bullish on AI and quantum computing should also be bullish on the privacy coin. He defended Zcash after a June bug in its Orchard shielded pool. The twins have since funded independent protocol work.
Zcash remains up roughly 1,033% over the past year. Its Ironwood network upgrade went live Tuesday.
Schiff and UBS Offer Contrasting Views on AI Trade Peak
Peter Schiff treats the drawdown as confirmation. He points to SpaceX, now roughly 48% below its $225.64 peak and trading under its $135 June listing price.
"The AI trade continues to unwind. $SPCX is now down over 20% since its IPO. More significantly, it's down over 52% from its high. It looks like the SpaceX IPO marked the peak of the AI bubble. AI is real, but there's a lot more air left to come out of overhyped AI-related stocks," Schiff stated on Tuesday.
Schiff has framed SpaceX stock and bonds as a warning for equities and crypto alike. Its 2056 notes now yield about 7.6%, pricing like junk debt.
SpaceX reports first results as a public company on August 4. Roughly 911.5 million insider shares unlock on August 6.
UBS disagrees with the peak thesis. The bank told clients the trade is maturing rather than breaking. Cheaper models redistribute compute demand instead of destroying it, in its reading.
FAQ
What triggered the Kospi's 10.84% drop on Tuesday?
Two China-specific catalysts drove the selloff. CXMT closed its Shanghai STAR Market debut on Monday up 466%, valued near 3.3 trillion yuan. Reports also stated a Chinese state-backed firm has begun producing immersion DUV lithography machines, the bottleneck tool Western export controls were designed to withhold.
What did Cameron Winklevoss recommend in response to the AI trade selloff?
Winklevoss urged investors to rotate into Bitcoin and Zcash on Tuesday, declaring the AI trade over. He stated: "A ton of capital is looking for a safe home. Time to rotate back into the hardest money in the universe: bitcoin and Zcash."
How did Nigel Green's circular financing claims compare to company filings?
Green argued Nvidia funds OpenAI, OpenAI buys Oracle cloud capacity, and Oracle purchases Nvidia chips with the revenue. Three of his supporting figures did not match primary filings: Nvidia's valuation is roughly $5 trillion, not $4.5 trillion; Nvidia's OpenAI commitment was restructured to a $30 billion equity stake, not $100 billion; Oracle's backlog is $638 billion, not "north of $500 billion."
