Bitcoin (BTC) sold off into the early European trading hours on Wednesday, hitting local lows of $76,400, according to data from CoinGecko, before later reclaiming the $77,000 level.

Key points:

• Bitcoin's apparent demand indicator has turned negative again, with BTC price dropping to a local low of $76,400 before reclaiming $77,000.
• USD/JPY dropped sharply to 158.5, sparking speculation that another yen intervention has taken place.
• Asian equities sold off sharply, with South Korea's KOSPI falling 4.0% to 6,562.72 and Japan's Nikkei 225 dropping 2.9% to 64,325.64.

Bitcoin's apparent demand flips negative again

The move in BTC followed outflows of $236 million from US spot Bitcoin exchange-traded funds (ETFs) the day prior. Since their launch in January 2024, these funds have become one of the largest vehicles for institutional exposure to Bitcoin, meaning sustained inflows or outflows from them are closely watched as a proxy for broader spot demand. Data from CryptoQuant now shows Bitcoin's apparent demand turning negative once more, after a brief reprieve during the August rally.

Bitcoin price and apparent demand, 30-day change. Source: CryptoQuant

The indicator is inspired by similar metrics from commodity markets and measures the difference between newly mined issuance and changes in inactive supply. A positive demand reading implies that old coins are waking up and that the market is absorbing them alongside new issuance, which is taken as a sign of active spot demand. Negative readings mean coins are aging into dormancy faster than miners issue them.

At the time of writing, BTC has reclaimed $77,000 but remains pinned under a cluster of resistance that Cointelegraph has previously reported on.

Bonds and Asian equities sell off

The global bond rout that Cointelegraph reported on Monday eased slightly, as the US 10-year yield briefly dipping below 4.8%. There was inorganic price action in the USD/JPY pair at 13:00 UTC, which commentators widely interpreted as a sign of another central bank intervention. USD/JPY declined to 158.5, retreating from the psychological 160 level widely seen as a line the Bank of Japan (BOJ) will defend. At the time of writing, no official announcement on the matter had been made.

USD/JPY trading pair one-day chart. Source: TradingView

Asian equities, meanwhile, suffered steep declines, likely driven by soaring oil prices and further profit-taking in the AI sector. South Korea's KOSPI led the losses, falling 4.0% to close at 6,562.72 as chipmakers SK Hynix and Samsung Electronics shed 4% and 4.7%, respectively. Both companies are major suppliers of high-bandwidth memory chips used in AI data centers, making the index particularly sensitive to shifts in sentiment around the AI trade.

Japan's Nikkei 225 fell 2.9% to 64,325.64, dragged down by tech heavyweights including SoftBank Group, an OpenAI investor. Taiwan's TAIEX rounded out the losses with a 1.7% drop. Back in July, Cointelegraph reported the first cracks beginning to show on the US side of the AI trade, as credit spreads on hyperscalers rose significantly. The overlapping weakness in risk assets comes as traders continue to watch whether crypto, which has increasingly traded in step with equities during periods of stress, decouples from the broader sell-off — something that has not yet materialized in Wednesday's price action.