Asian Stocks Plunge, Bitcoin Slips—Fed/PCE Await as BTC Lacks Buy Power
Asian markets took a synchronized hit Tuesday: South Korea’s KOSPI triggered the circuit breaker again after a fall of over 8%, Japan’s Nikkei dropped about 4%, and Taiwan’s weighted index sank more than 4%, briefly breaking key support near 42,000. Major “index” heavyweights were hit hard, including TSMC, MediaTek, Delta Electronics, Hon Hai, and ASE.
The selloff was traced partly to weakness in the prior US close, with investors questioning whether big tech’s AI infrastructure spending will deliver adequate returns. Tech-sector pressure then rippled across Asia.
Bitcoin moved lower too, though less than equities. At the time of writing, Bitcoin was around $63,258, down about 3.06% in 24 hours, while Ethereum fell roughly 3.66% to about $1,875. Despite a recent rebound (near +4% from last Friday), Bitcoin’s derivatives data showed no meaningful pickup in open interest, suggesting the bounce lacked fresh leverage-driven demand.
Nansen analyst Nicolai Sondergaard said price action remains range-bound due to a lack of “strong buyers,” and flagged a downside target zone of roughly $52,000–$58,000.
Traders will likely watch the next catalysts closely: the Fed rate decision and core PCE data scheduled for Wednesday could either stabilize risk assets or deepen the risk-off move—directly impacting Bitcoin sentiment.
Bearish
This is a bearish impulse for crypto risk appetite because the news is dominated by broad Asian equities stress (KOSPI circuit breaker, Nikkei and Taiwan index deep declines) and a derivatives signal that Bitcoin’s rebound lacks follow-through. When open interest does not rise alongside price, it often means the move is not being supported by new leveraged longs—so upside attempts can fail quickly once macro pressure returns.
In similar past “global risk-off” episodes (sharp equity selloffs plus macro uncertainty), Bitcoin typically trades more like a high-beta risk asset in the short term: correlation with equities strengthens and dips can extend even if BTC falls less than stocks. The near-term catalyst risk is Wednesday’s Fed decision and core PCE—either can reprice rate expectations sharply, affecting USD liquidity and volatility.
Longer term, if the selloff is driven by temporary positioning and later data reduces hawkish fears, BTC could stabilize and re-enter a broader range. But based on the article’s indicators (range-bound behavior and highlighted $52k–$58k downside zone), traders should prepare for volatility and potential further downside before any sustained recovery.