Bitcoin (BTC) held above $75,000 on Friday as a sell-off in United States technology stocks spread to Asian markets, with South Korea's KOSPI Composite Index triggering a trading halt and Seoul announcing emergency support measures.

Key points:

• Bitcoin steadied after falling as much as 6.6% on Thursday to $75,109 on Bitstamp.
• South Korea's KOSPI triggered a 20-minute trading halt after falling more than 8% shortly after Friday's open, before closing down 6%.
• The government announced a three-month waiver of margin-loan collateral requirements for brokerages from Monday.
• Analysts cited fears of tighter US regulation of AI following Democrats' midterm election gains; the Philadelphia Semiconductor Index fell 12.2% on Thursday.

Bitcoin trades near 50-week average

Data from TradingView showed BTC/USD trading near its 50-week simple moving average (SMA), at $75,733 — a level traders often watch as a gauge of longer-term trend strength.

The pair fell as much as 6.6% on Thursday as United States stock markets saw sustained selling throughout the Wall Street session. The S&P 500 closed down 4.4%, while the tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite lost 5.5%.

South Korea eases collateral rules as KOSPI falls 6%

Asian stocks extended the sell-off on Friday. South Korea's KOSPI Composite Index fell more than 8% shortly after the open, triggering a circuit breaker that halted trading for 20 minutes. Circuit breakers are automatic trading pauses designed to curb panic-driven selling during extreme moves. The index then pared losses to close 6% lower at 5,059.69 points, its lowest close since March 31.

At an emergency meeting, South Korea's deputy prime minister and finance minister Lee Hyoung-il announced measures aimed at reducing forced selling. Brokerages will be exempt from a requirement to maintain a 140% collateral ratio on margin loans for three months starting Monday, local media reported. Collateral rules oblige investors trading with borrowed funds to keep posted assets above a set threshold; easing them reduces the risk of forced unwinds that can deepen a sell-off. Authorities said they would prepare further measures if volatility increased, keeping follow-up policy steps from Seoul in focus in the sessions ahead.

"We recognize with gravity the expanding volatility in global stock markets following the U.S. midterm elections," Chosun quoted an unnamed government source as saying. "However, the domestic market has been overly reactive to external factors."

Analysts call the rout "more technical than fundamental"

Analysts linked Thursday's Wall Street losses to fears of tighter AI regulation after Democrats won the House and Senate. Those fears compounded existing market concerns about the sector's capital spending.

Related: Bitcoin, Ether ETFs post $530M outflows as election gains evaporate

Citing an X post by Democratic Rep. Yassamin Ansari, who called for a "pause on advanced AI development," market commentary service The Kobeissi Letter said an outright US ban on AI was unlikely.

"In our view, a ban of AI will not happen in the US (with near-certainty). Such a ban, if even possible to enforce, would mean the US surrendering its position in the global AI race to China. That won't happen," it wrote in an X post. "We believe today's decline was more technical than fundamental."

Kobeissi noted that Thursday's losses were concentrated in technology, with the S&P 500 declining about 2.5% when the sector was excluded. The Philadelphia Semiconductor Index, which tracks 30 semiconductor companies, finished Thursday 12.2% lower.

Economist Mohamed El-Erian also said lawmakers would need to find common ground on AI policy. "America's 'let it rip' approach to AI aligns with the technology's productivity potential and national security imperatives. However, it has fallen short not only on safety and diffusion, but also on bringing society along," he wrote in a Substack note.

El-Erian said the backlash reflected "genuine concerns," information failures and behavioral factors. How US lawmakers respond will be watched for signals on the direction of AI regulation.

Cointelegraph previously reported that Democrat midterm sweeps under Republican presidents have historically been followed by strong stock returns. Bitcoin's correlation with the S&P 500 has become more positive in recent months, meaning the asset has increasingly traded in step with equity markets.