Bitcoin falls from $65,000 to $62,000 amid South Korean market disruption

Bitcoin dropped back near $62,000 after the bounce toward $65,000 ran straight into a wall of selling across crypto, chips, and Asian stocks. Bitcoin (BTC) was last near $62,500 after pulling a little above its worst point of the day, but it was still down 4% in 24 hours.

Crypto stocks were lower too, although they had already recovered from deeper losses. Strategy (MSTR) fell 2.1%, while Coinbase (COIN) lost 1.9%. Traders also paid more for downside cover as fear gauges jumped.

Bitcoin’s 30-day implied volatility index, BVIV, rose almost 10% to 46.5, based on Volmex data. The VIX, which tracks expected swings in the S&P 500, climbed 16.5% to 20.0 and reached its highest level in recent weeks.

Asian chip stocks drag Bitcoin into a wider risk sell-off

South Korea took the heaviest punch overnight. The Kospi Index crashed 10% as chip stocks were dumped hard. SK Hynix (000660.KS) and Samsung Electronics (005930.KS) both lost more than 10%.

The pain spread across regional ETFs. The iShares China Large-Cap ETF (FXI) fell as much as 2% on Tuesday and touched a new 52-week low. At its lowest level of the session, FXI was 22% below its 52-week high.

The iShares MSCI Hong Kong ETF (EWH) was down less than 1% on Tuesday, but at the day’s low, it had fallen about 15% from its 52-week peak.

South Korea’s U.S.-listed fund took a much harder hit. The iShares MSCI South Korea ETF (EWY) dropped about 9% on Tuesday and, at the session bottom, traded nearly 13% below its 52-week high.

Taiwan also joined the sell-off. The iShares MSCI Taiwan ETF (EWT) lost 5% and came close to its weakest point of the day, when it was down 5.4%. EWT stood about 6.5% below its 52-week high.

The reason is these markets are packed with chip giants. South Korea leans heavily on SK Hynix (000660.KS) and Samsung Electronics (005930.KS). Taiwan leans on Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company (TSM). When chip traders start throwing stocks overboard, these indexes do not have much room to act cute.

U.S. futures also looked rough before the open. Nasdaq 100 futures were down 2.6%, while the broader and less tech-heavy S&P 500 was lower by 1.2%. Micron Technology (MU), one of the memory-chip names that traders have been chasing, fell more than 7% after setting a fresh record high on Monday.

U.S. tech stocks keep falling while Trump says Hormuz will stay open

The U.S. session started with the S&P 500 falling by 1%, the Nasdaq Composite tumbling by 1.5%, and the Dow Jones Industrial Average trading close to flat.

The rout started on Monday, when the Nasdaq Composite lost 1.3%. Alphabet (GOOGL) was the main weight that day, falling 5% as investors worried about major AI talent leaving the company.

On Tuesday, Alphabet (GOOGL) was still slightly lower. Some large tech names outside semiconductors, including Microsoft (MSFT) and Amazon (AMZN), helped the main indexes climb above their worst levels.

Chip stocks remained the primary concern. SanDisk (SNDK) lost 12%. Seagate Technology (STX) declined over 7%.

Intel (INTC) fell 3%, Advanced Micro Devices (AMD) lost 5%, and Qualcomm (QCOM) plunged 9%. Meanwhile, the Technology Select Sector SPDR Fund (XLK) decreased by 3%, while the VanEck Semiconductor ETF (SMH) plunged by 6%.

SpaceX gave traders another messy line item after surging by more than 1% early on after the bell, then crashing down almost 4% lower on Tuesday.

That put SPCX on track for a four-day losing streak. It closed at $160.95 on June 12, its first trading day, then later reached a closing high of $201.80. Since that high, SpaceX has lost more than 26%.

The market was still selling even after Trump tried to calm oil-shipping fears around the Strait of Hormuz. Trump said Iran had agreed to long-term nuclear inspections and that traffic through the channel would not be blocked.

“Iran has fully and completely agreed to highest level Nuclear inspections long into the future. Based on this and other major concessions being made by Iran, I have agreed to allow the Hormuz Strait to remain OPEN, with no further Naval Blockade. However, all ships are remaining in place should it be necessary to reinstitute the Blockade, which seems, at this point, highly unlikely,” Trump said Tuesday in a Truth post.

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