
Bitcoin hovered around $64,000 on Wednesday as most major cryptocurrencies posted modest gains, largely shrugging off a steep selloff in South Korean semiconductor stocks. Investors were also waiting for the Federal Reserve’s July meeting minutes, due at 2 p.m. ET.
BTC traded near $64,250, edging higher on the day and remaining about 1% above its level from a week earlier. Despite significant weakness across global chip markets, crypto prices showed limited reaction.
Solana outperformed other major cryptocurrencies, rising 2% to nearly $77 and adding almost 1% over the past seven days, according to CoinDesk data. Ether gained 1% to just above $1,900, taking its weekly advance to around 1.5%.
XRP recovered nearly 1% to trade slightly below $1 but was still down about 2% for the week. Tron climbed roughly 0.5% to 33 cents, while Dogecoin increased by a similar amount to around 7 cents.
BNB slipped marginally to just above $600 and remains about 2% lower over seven days. Hyperliquid’s HYPE token fell more than 1% to slightly above $58, although it continues to lead major tokens on a weekly basis with a gain of roughly 7%.
South Korean Chip Stocks Sink
Samsung Electronics and SK Hynix each lost more than 7% in Seoul, contributing to a decline of over 6% in South Korea’s Kospi index. MSCI’s Asia Pacific benchmark also fell about 2%.
The Asian semiconductor index dropped more than 3% after the Philadelphia Semiconductor Index plunged 5% on Tuesday. It was the index’s sharpest daily decline since late July, while futures pointed to further weakness in European and U.S. markets.
Treasury Yields Keep Pressure on Markets
The decline in chip stocks came alongside weakness in global bond markets. The 30-year U.S. Treasury yield reached its highest point since 2007, while the 10-year yield moved close to levels last seen in early 2025.
Rising borrowing costs could weigh on technology companies committing significant capital to AI infrastructure.
U.S. Treasury markets stabilized Wednesday, with the 10-year yield slipping about one basis point to 4.69%. Gold climbed as much as 0.6% above $4,360 an ounce after dropping almost 2% in the previous session.
Investors Await Fed Minutes
The Federal Reserve’s minutes from its July meeting are due at 2 p.m. ET, offering investors additional insight into policymakers’ views on the economic outlook and future rate decisions.
Fed Chair Kevin Warsh is also scheduled to address the Jackson Hole symposium next week.
A Reuters poll found that 94 out of 104 economists expect the Fed to leave its benchmark rate unchanged at 3.5%-3.75% in September. Markets are currently pricing in roughly a 68% chance of no rate change.






