The dominant narrative for 2026 was that AI tokens would decouple from the broader crypto market. The idea was simple: dominate the narrative, own a unique thesis, and become immune to macro risk-off sentiment. Today, that theory was tested. Bitcoin dropped nearly 6%, slipping to $66,900. Fetch AI fell 10%. Bittensor lost 9.5%. Akash Network slid 5.5%. NEAR was the only outlier holding relative strength. The promised protection never came. When real fear hits, everything bleeds together. The decoupling only exists in a bull market. Today made that painfully clear.