Markets
Bloodbath on Satoshi Street: Why Is the Crypto Market Down Today
Global markets are in turmoil as stocks, crypto, gold, and tech plunge simultaneously. Here's what triggered the massive selloff.
18d ago 4,280
BLOCKINSIDERLoadingGlobal markets are in turmoil as stocks, crypto, gold, and tech plunge simultaneously. Here's what triggered the massive selloff.
Global markets have suddenly shifted into risk-off mode. Stocks, crypto, gold, and silver are all falling simultaneously, something that rarely happens unless liquidity is being pulled out of the system.
The selloff began in Asia, where South Korea's tech-heavy KOSPI index crashed more than 10%, triggering a circuit breaker for the second time this month. Chip giants Samsung and SK Hynix both plunged over 12%. Japan’s Nikkei fell nearly 5%, Hong Kong's Hang Seng dropped 3%, while U.S. futures pointed lower as investors continued dumping technology stocks.
Crypto wasn’t spared either. Bitcoin slid below $63,000, losing over $1,500 in just a few hours and wiping out more than $220 million in leveraged long positions.
Even traditional safe havens like gold and silver fell sharply, signaling that investors were selling whatever they could.
This isn't a normal correction. It's a broad deleveraging event.
According to Bull Theory, today’s market-wide crash appears to be driven by a combination of forced selling, weakening confidence in the AI trade, and tightening global liquidity conditions.
For the last year, global markets have been driven largely by AI optimism.
But cracks are beginning to emerge.
Reports from South Korea suggest SK Hynix may slow the expansion of its latest AI memory chip business and focus more on lower-priced commodity chips. For one of the world's key AI suppliers, that raises concerns that demand expectations may have become too aggressive.
Investors had also borrowed record amounts of money to buy semiconductor stocks. Once prices started falling, margin calls kicked in, forcing investors to sell and accelerating losses.
The result was a full-scale unwind in AI-related stocks.
According to JPMorgan, institutional investors may need to sell as much as $165 billion worth of equities globally before June 30.
Pension funds and sovereign wealth funds maintain strict allocations between stocks and bonds. After the strong rally earlier this year, many now hold too many stocks and are being forced to rebalance.
This means automatic selling pressure is hitting markets regardless of fundamentals.
Investors are also becoming increasingly worried that interest rates could remain higher for longer. Markets are also grappling with a more hawkish Federal Reserve. Currently, nine Fed officials expect at least one more rate hike this year, while traders are pricing in a 70% chance of a September hike, making risk assets less attractive.
Recent U.S. economic data, especially jobs numbers, came in stronger than expected, reducing hopes for rate cuts.
Higher rates reduce liquidity and make speculative investments like crypto and growth stocks less attractive.
That’s putting pressure across nearly every risk asset.
One of the biggest stories investors are watching involves Japan.
Sharp moves in the USD/JPY pair have sparked speculation that Japanese authorities may have intervened to support the yen.
Why does this matter?
For years, investors borrowed ultra-cheap Japanese yen to buy global assets through what's known as the yen carry trade.
If Japan begins tightening policy or actively supports the yen, investors may be forced to unwind those trades by selling stocks, crypto, commodities, and other assets simultaneously.
This could explain why everything is falling together.
Several scenarios could play out from here.
If quarter-end selling eases and markets stabilize, a relief bounce is possible in early July. Oversold conditions across crypto and equities could attract dip buyers.
If the Federal Reserve remains hawkish, AI earnings disappoint, or Japan continues disrupting global liquidity, markets could see another leg lower.
Analysts are closely watching whether Bitcoin can hold key support levels around $60,000. A breakdown could trigger another wave of liquidations.
The most likely outcome may simply be continued volatility.
Markets are currently repricing growth expectations, interest rates, and AI valuations all at once. Until investors gain clarity on monetary policy and earnings, sharp swings in both directions are likely.
For months, markets were fueled by cheap liquidity, AI enthusiasm, and expectations of lower rates. Now those assumptions are being challenged simultaneously.
The next few weeks could determine whether this remains a healthy correction or evolves into something much larger.
For now, blood is flowing on Satoshi Street, and across virtually every other market as well.
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