Bitcoin Holds Above $63,000 Despite Asian Stock Rout, Showing Signs of Break From AI Shares

Bitcoin held above $63,000 even as Asian stocks and artificial intelligence-related shares plunged, in a sign that the cryptocurrency may be breaking from its recent pattern of moving in tandem with tech equities.

CoinDesk reported that Bitcoin traded around $63,800 on July 29, up about 1% on the day. Ether rose 1% to $1,899, while XRP gained 2% to $1.07.

BNB climbed to about $567 and Solana traded near $73. Hyperliquid was the only major cryptocurrency in the red, falling about 3% to $54.

Asian equities slumped, led by semiconductor stocks. South Korean shares fell 11% the previous day and slid as much as 11% again in intraday trading on July 29, putting the market on track for a record two-day drop.

SK Hynix tumbled about 17% after quarterly profit surged 557% from a year earlier but missed market expectations. Samsung Electronics fell 12% ahead of its earnings release due the next day. The MSCI Asia Pacific Index dropped 2% to its lowest level since mid-April, while Nasdaq 100 futures fell 1%.

Cryptocurrencies have recently shown a strong correlation with AI and semiconductor shares. Bitcoin had tended to rise when AI stocks advanced and fall when tech stocks corrected, but that relationship appears to have weakened twice over the past five trading sessions.

Bitcoin also held steady during last week's sharp selloff in large US technology stocks, avoiding a steep decline. During the latest plunge in Asian chip shares, it has moved higher instead. Still, two instances alone are not enough to conclude that a broader decoupling between cryptocurrencies and AI stocks is underway.

Bitcoin briefly fell below $63,000 on July 27 after the US Senate delayed action on the CLARITY Act, a crypto market-structure bill, but later recovered those losses.

Attention is now turning to the Federal Reserve's interest-rate decision due later on July 29. Markets are pricing in about a 15% chance of a rate increase at this meeting. The US core personal consumption expenditures price index, second-quarter gross domestic product data and earnings from major Big Tech companies are also set to shape the direction of crypto markets.