Bitcoin’s $80,000 bottom has cracked under back-to-back inflationary shocks, and Xi Jinping’s warning to Taiwan has further dampened expectations of a recovery.
BTC was trading at $79,200 during Asian hours on Thursday, down 2.3% over 24 hours and 2.2% over seven days, after falling below the $80,000 level that had served as a floor for most of the last week, according to CoinGecko data.
Solana (SOL) led the downward cohort with a 5.6% decline to $90, giving back most of the weekly gains that had made it the standout altcoin over the past two weeks. Ether fell 2.1% to $2,250 and is now down 3% over seven days, the second lowest among the majors after BTC.
BNB lost 1.6% to $660 but held on to a 3.9% weekly gain, while XRP slipped 1.7% to $1.43. Dogecoin held in green territory at $0.1126, up 0.9% on the day, the only major in the cohort to post a 24-hour gain.
Selling pressure built around the Trump-Xi summit in Beijing, the first visit to China by a sitting U.S. president in nearly a decade. Xi pressed Trump on Taiwan during their first meeting at the Great Hall of the People, warning of a potential “collision, even clashes” if the issue was mishandled.
China’s readout of Xi’s remarks appears to have been released before the meeting ended, thrusting the self-ruled island into the spotlight and shaking global sentiment of risk.
Asian stocks have swung between gains and losses due to friction. The MSCI Asia-Pacific index slipped 0.1% after rising 0.8% in early trading.
Mainland Chinese stocks fell 1.3%, having hit their highest level since 2021 before the trade. The offshore yuan edged higher for an 11th day, the longest winning streak since September 2017, suggesting capital is starting to position itself for whatever comes from the summit.
The cryptocurrency selloff added to pressure from Wednesday’s producer price index, which rose 1.4% month-over-month versus a forecast of 0.5% and 6% year-over-year.
This follows Tuesday’s CPI reading of 3.8%, the highest inflation reading in almost three years. Back-to-back inflation surprises complicate the Federal Reserve’s path to easing rates later this year, removing one of the structural tailwinds that crypto has priced in.
But not everything fell apart. Cisco shares jumped 20% in extended trading after a stronger-than-expected sales outlook, and the index of Asian technology shares climbed as much as 2.3% to a record high. Nasdaq 100 futures advanced 0.2%. AI trading remains higher even as the broader risk band becomes unstable, consistent with the same divergence that has existed for three weeks.
The next test for Bitcoin comes at the $78,000 level, which marked the early May low before the rally to $82,000. A break below would bring the late April capitulation zone into play. Holding above keeps buyers’ structural arguments intact heading into the next round of macroeconomic data and the end of the Trump-Xi negotiations.
