Bitcoin Buyers Snap Up Brief Drop Below $80,000 as Asian Stocks Rebound
Key Takeaways
- •Bitcoin's dip below $80,000 lasted only about two hours on Thursday, taking it to roughly $79,800, before buyers stepped in again at the approximately $80,400 level and pushed the price back above $81,000.
- •Zcash's ZEC led major cryptocurrencies with an 8% rally to about $1,190, while Solana's SOL, ether, XRP, and Tron's TRX each added roughly 1% and BNB was little changed.
- •Asian equities rebounded from Thursday's sell-off, with MSCI's Asia Pacific gauge up 1.3%, Samsung Electronics and SK Hynix each gaining more than 2%, and South Korea's Kospi climbing nearly 3% after its lowest close since April.
- •Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing slipped despite an upbeat outlook, as concerns over artificial intelligence spending persisted.
- •Federal Reserve Chair Kevin Warsh is scheduled to speak at the IMF and World Bank meetings in Bangkok on Friday, two days after September inflation data came in hotter than expected.
Bitcoin climbed 1.3% to nearly $82,000 in Friday's Asian morning hours as buyers stepped in following a brief drop below $80,000, while Asian chip stocks bounced back from Thursday's sell-off.
ZEC, the native token of privacy-focused blockchain Zcash, stood out among major cryptocurrencies, jumping 8% to about $1,190. Solana's SOL, ether, XRP and Tron's TRX each added roughly 1%, while BNB was little changed, according to CoinDesk data.
Bitcoin's dip below $80,000 proved short-lived, lasting all of two hours. Thursday's slide took the asset to about $79,800, cutting through the roughly $80,400 low that buyers had defended twice over the past week — and that level drew support once again. Bitcoin returned to near $82,500 within two hours and held above $81,000 through Asian trading. Levels that attract repeated buying carry weight in technical analysis, as traders tend to cluster orders around prices where buyers have previously stepped in.
Equity traders bought the dip as well. MSCI's Asia Pacific equities gauge rose 1.3%, with roughly three shares advancing for every one that declined. Samsung Electronics and SK Hynix each gained more than 2%, and South Korea's Kospi jumped nearly 3% after closing Thursday at its lowest level since April.
Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing was the exception, slipping even after an upbeat outlook as concerns over artificial intelligence spending persisted.
Bonds handed back part of Thursday's flight to safety. Treasuries declined across the curve, nudging the 10-year yield — a benchmark that anchors borrowing costs across the economy — up one basis point to 5.07%.
Attention now shifts to Federal Reserve Chair Kevin Warsh, who is scheduled to speak at the IMF and World Bank meetings in Bangkok on Friday, two days after September inflation data came in hotter than expected. Remarks from Fed officials are routinely scrutinized for signals on the policy outlook, and a hotter-than-expected inflation print sharpens that focus.
Traders are watching whether Bitcoin can push back above $84,000 — the level where Wednesday's post-inflation rally ran out of steam — which would suggest the current bounce is backed by genuine demand.
