Bitcoin dropped 3.5% on Friday to $62,369, its lowest level since July 14. On the same day, South Korea's KOSPI index closed up 17.9%, marking the biggest single-day gain in the index's history — semiconductor stocks led both the surge and the earlier selloff, underscoring the index's heavy exposure to the global AI and memory chip cycle.
The problem is, this Asian rally failed to spill over into U.S. stocks, let alone Bitcoin. U.S. equities opened in the green before trading sideways, diverging sharply from the Asian markets' trajectory. Trading firm QCP Capital noted in a report that crypto trading activity picked up in tandem with the KOSPI's wild swings, highlighting deepening links between crypto liquidity, regional equity positioning, and tech sector sentiment.
Earlier that day, Japan and South Korea reportedly intervened in currency markets simultaneously. The Bank of Japan kept its benchmark rate unchanged at 1.0%, following the U.S. Federal Reserve's decision to hold rates steady on Wednesday.
Ironically, Bitcoin is on track to close July up 8.5% for the month, according to CoinGlass data — its strongest July performance since 2022. Traders had expected the rally to carry into August, but the pattern could instead mirror the 2022 bear market, eventually leading to a new long-term bottom. Analyst Rekt Capital wrote on X on Friday that prices may hold near recent highs in early August, "but history suggests the price could reverse downward from there, just like it did in 2022."
He also pointed out that Bitcoin's 50-month exponential moving average (EMA) currently sits at $65,820, and has failed to break above it twice since mid-June, continuing to act as a resistance level.
