Bitcoin clung to the $75,000 line on Friday, steadying after a 6.6% slide a day earlier, while a rout in US chipmakers rolled across Asia and forced South Korean authorities into emergency action.
The largest digital token traded near $75,733, close to its 50-week simple moving average, according to TradingView data cited in market coverage. Pricing on Bitstamp showed it bottoming at $75,109 on Thursday, when Wall Street's technology complex came under heavy selling.
The S&P 500 closed down 4.4% and the Nasdaq Composite lost 5.5% in that session. The Philadelphia Semiconductor Index, a gauge of 30 leading chip companies, plunged 12.2% -- the sharpest move of the day and the one that set the tone for Asia's open.
Seoul halts trading, then eases margin rules
South Korea's KOSPI Composite Index fell more than 8% in the first minutes of Friday trading, tripping a circuit breaker that suspended activity for 20 minutes. The benchmark recovered part of the ground but still ended 6% lower at 5,059.69 points, its weakest close since March 31.
Deputy Prime Minister and Finance Minister Lee Hyoung-il convened an emergency meeting and unveiled measures aimed at curbing forced selling. From Monday, brokerages will be exempt for three months from the requirement to hold a 140% collateral ratio on margin loans, local media reported. Officials said further steps are ready if volatility persists.
A government source, quoted by Chosun, said Seoul views the global swing with concern. "We recognize with gravity the expanding volatility in global stock markets following the U.S. midterm elections," the source said, adding that "the domestic market has been overly reactive to external factors."
Note: Bitcoin low reflects Thursday trading on Bitstamp; KOSPI close is Friday's final level.
Regulation worry, not earnings, drives the drop
Market commentary pinned the sell-off on renewed anxiety over tighter oversight of artificial intelligence after Democrats added to their political gains in the midterms. Democratic Representative Yassamin Ansari had called for a "pause on advanced AI development," a position that circulated widely as the session opened.
The Kobeissi Letter, a market intelligence service, argued the reaction was overdone. "In our view, a ban of AI will not happen in the US (with near-certainty)," it wrote, saying such a step would mean "the US surrendering its position in the global AI race to China. That won't happen." The group added: "We believe today's decline was more technical than fundamental."
It noted the damage was narrow: without the technology component, the S&P 500 would have fallen only about 2.5%.
Mohamed El-Erian, president of Queens' College, Cambridge, and chief economic adviser at Allianz, said Washington needs a middle path. "America's 'let it rip' approach to AI aligns with the technology's productivity potential and national security imperatives. However, it has fallen short not only on safety and diffusion, but also on bringing society along," he wrote in a Substack note. The pushback, he said, blends "genuine concerns" with information failures and behavioral factors.
Why it matters for crypto
The episode reinforces how tightly Bitcoin now trades alongside US equities. Its correlation with the S&P 500 has turned more positive in recent months, and prior research has found that Democratic midterm sweeps under Republican presidents were often followed by strong equity returns -- a pattern bulls are counting on.
For now, the token's hold above its 50-week moving average is the technical line in the sand. A decisive break would put the October lows back in play; a bounce would support the case that crypto is absorbing the equity shock better than in past drawdowns. Seoul's three-month margin waiver, meanwhile, gives Korean brokers room to avoid fire sales -- a template other regulators may study if the chip rout deepens.
