- Monday’s bounce is gone. Bitcoin fell 2% to just under $77,000 during Asian hours on Tuesday, below the roughly $77,600 it dipped to late Sunday before buyers stepped in, according to CoinDesk. Most major cryptocurrencies declined alongside it.
- Altcoins took bigger hits. Zcash tumbled nearly 10% to about $1,140 after leading the majors on Monday, Hyperliquid’s HYPE fell 5% to about $84 and Solana dropped 3% to about $92. BNB slipped below $700, ether fell about 2% to just above $2,250, XRP held at $1.25 and Tron was the only major in the green, up about 2%.
- The selling started on Wall Street. A gauge of US chipmakers extended a three-day rout to 12%, leaving the Nasdaq 100 down 10% from its peak, which traders call a correction. The Nasdaq Composite fell 1.07% on Monday and the S&P 500 lost 0.51%, according to CNBC.
- Crypto is trading like a tech stock. South Korea’s Kospi slid more than 3% and the MSCI Asia Pacific Index dropped almost 1%, and bitcoin followed risk assets lower rather than acting as a hedge.
What Happened?
Bitcoin reversed Monday’s gains as a deepening selloff in US semiconductor stocks spread to Asian markets hours before Americans vote in the midterm elections. Chinese stocks fell even after the central bank said it would encourage financial institutions to use tools meant to support the stock market, and the yuan snapped a 13-day winning streak, its longest since 1996. A sharp drop in oil on optimism about ending the war in Iran did little to lift sentiment.
Why It Matters?
Bitcoin’s close tracking of the chip trade shows how tightly crypto is tied to risk appetite for AI and technology stocks. With the Nasdaq 100 in a correction, investors are cutting exposure to the most volatile assets, and smaller tokens like Zcash and HYPE are falling hardest. The pullback also comes as the market is still digesting the $6.3 billion Binance hack, which has kept crypto sentiment fragile.
What’s Next?
First midterm results are due as Asian markets open on Wednesday, and the outcome could shape the outlook for crypto legislation and regulation in Washington. Traders will watch whether bitcoin holds above the late-Sunday low near $77,600 and the $77,000 level. A rebound in chip stocks would likely help crypto stabilize, while a deeper Nasdaq correction could push prices lower.
