Bitcoin Slides 2.7% After U.S. Close as South Korea’s Kospi Falls 10%
Key Takeaways
- •Bitcoin fell about 2.7% to roughly $63,200, extending losses across the wider crypto market.
- •Ether, XRP, solana and other tokens also weakened as the crypto selloff broadened.
- •South Korea’s Kospi fell 10% to its lowest level since mid-April, with chipmakers including Samsung and SK Hynix declining sharply.
- •The U.S. Senate delayed action on the CLARITY Act and is prioritizing a Russia sanctions bill, making a vote before next week unlikely.
- •The Federal Reserve’s rate decision on Wednesday and key U.S. data on Thursday are expected to be the week’s most volatile events for markets.
Bitcoin fell about 2.7% to roughly $63,200 after the U.S. stock market closed Monday, extending losses across major cryptocurrencies as Asian equities sold off sharply, led by South Korea’s Kospi.
The decline pushed bitcoin BTC $ 63,749.88 down from nearly $65,000 and spilled into the broader crypto market, pressuring ether (ETH), XRP (XRP), solana (SOL), and other tokens. The move followed a brief period of resilience earlier Monday, when U.S. equities weakened as shares in NVDA sold off on Wall Street.
The U.S. Senate has delayed action on the closely watched CLARITY Act and is instead prioritizing a Russia sanctions bill, making a vote on the crypto regulatory measure unlikely before next week. The timetable leaves only the final days before the Aug. 8 recess. The legislation has been widely watched for the regulatory clarity it is expected to provide and for its potential to support institutional participation in digital assets.
Asian equities weakened sharply in the same period. South Korea’s Kospi index fell 10% to its lowest level since mid-April and has now dropped 25% from its mid-June peak. The latest decline included steep losses in large chipmakers such as Samsung and SK Hynix. "The market is falling out of love with chipmakers at the moment and that's been a big driver of the bull market in South Korea," InvestingLive wrote.
Bitcoin has often moved in tandem with equity-market volatility, although analysts say the relationship is not always straightforward. "BTC trades with equities when the stress is macro and [interest] rates-driven, and decouples when the stress is idiosyncratic to the equity market. An earnings-and-capital-expenditure debate is precisely that, so on this data the correlation is overstated," analysts at Bitfinex said in a note to CoinDesk.
The backdrop leaves crypto traders watching both policy and macro events at the same time: the Senate’s schedule affects the timing of a potential regulatory vote, while the Fed meeting and upcoming U.S. data could add another layer of market sensitivity across risk assets.
Looking ahead, Wednesday and Thursday could bring additional volatility across asset classes. The Federal Reserve will decide interest rates on Wednesday, while Thursday will bring key U.S. data.
"The Fed decides rates Wednesday, with Core PCE and GDP following immediately Thursday. That makes Wednesday–Thursday the week's highest-volatility window for U.S. rate repricing," Dessislava Ianeva, an analyst at Nexo, said.