Bitcoin rebounded above $83,000 on Tuesday despite a sharp selloff in Asian equities and cryptocurrency derivatives markets, where liquidations exceeded $813 million over 24 hours.
South Korea’s KOSPI index fell 6 percent to close at 6,035.35, down from an intraday low of 7.4 percent before a sell-side trading curb was triggered. The decline was led by semiconductor stocks: Samsung Electronics dropped 7.39 percent and SK Hynix fell 10.09 percent, marking the fifth consecutive session of losses for both companies. Samsung and SK Hynix together represent approximately 50 percent of the KOSPI’s market capitalization.
Foreign investors sold 4.5 trillion won, equivalent to $3.35 billion, of Korean equities during the session. Paradis Labs characterized the institutional shift as “Sell Korea, Buy US,” reflecting a broader rotation away from Asian risk assets.
Broadcom CEO Intensifies Selloff
Broadcom Chief Executive Officer Hock Tan compared speculative artificial intelligence investment to gambling, comments that amplified existing selling pressure in semiconductor stocks. The Philadelphia Semiconductor Index had already declined 2.7 percent on Monday. Japan’s Nikkei 225 fell 1.8 percent on Tuesday.
Bitunix analysts noted that strong semiconductor earnings did not prevent heavy selling, attributing the decline to reduced leveraged exposure and diminished share buyback support. Paradis Labs also warned that South Korea’s dependence on imported crude oil creates vulnerability as Iran tensions escalate.
Crypto Liquidations Surge
Cryptocurrency liquidations reached $812.9 million according to CoinGlass data, affecting 170,209 traders. Bullish positions accounted for 84.5 percent of total liquidations, representing $686.72 million, while bearish positions totaled $126.19 million.
Bitcoin liquidations alone reached $192.14 million, with long positions comprising 74 percent of that total. Ethereum saw $180.5 million in liquidations, and Solana experienced $60.85 million. The largest single liquidation was a $9.65 million Bitcoin long position on Binance.
Bitcoin’s Net Taker Volume turned negative, indicating that aggressive selling outweighed buying activity in derivatives markets. JA Maartunn, analyst at CryptoQuant, noted the metric as a sign of market stress.
Bitcoin Price Action
Bitcoin briefly slipped below $81,000 before recovering to above $83,000. The rebound occurred despite the liquidation cascade and concurrent Asian equity selloff, suggesting institutional demand remained present despite the broader risk-off sentiment.
Memory Chip Development
ChangXin Memory Technologies announced development of a DRAM architecture capable of reducing memory-cell area by approximately 30 percent. The company plans to introduce products with the new architecture by the end of 2026, though commercial manufacturing scalability remains unproven.
BlackRock downgraded US equities from overweight to neutral and increased its preference for short-term Treasuries, signaling reduced appetite for equity risk. A US inflation report is scheduled for Wednesday.
