Bitcoin Trades Sideways Near $64K Despite Massive Equity Market Rally in Korea

Samsung and SK Hynix shares rallied more than 23%, but Bitcoin remained largely stagnant over the past 24 hours, with most major cryptocurrencies still posting weekly declines.

The crypto market showed minimal reaction to one of the biggest stock market recoveries of the year on Friday. Bitcoin traded around $64,300 as South Korea’s equity market bounced sharply after a two-week selloff.

Major digital assets saw little movement. Ether traded near $1,907, XRP around $1.08, Solana at $74, and Dogecoin close to $0.07. Bitcoin recorded roughly $27 billion in trading volume, while Ether saw about $7 billion. BNB outperformed other large-cap tokens, gaining 3% to $590 and remaining the only major cryptocurrency with a notable weekly increase. Bitcoin briefly climbed to $65,300 during early Asian hours before retreating shortly afterward.

The broader crypto market continued to struggle on a weekly basis. Hyperliquid’s HYPE token declined 5% over seven days, Solana and XRP each dropped 3%, and Bitcoin slipped 2%. Ether and Dogecoin were among the few assets in positive territory, each gaining about 1%.

Meanwhile, stock markets staged a dramatic turnaround. South Korea’s Kospi surged as much as 17% after rebounding from a three-day selloff that had pushed the index more than 40% below its June high. Semiconductor stocks powered the recovery, with Samsung and SK Hynix both jumping over 23% and Taiwan Semiconductor climbing 10%, making chipmakers the biggest drivers of the Asian market rally.

The move came after U.S. semiconductor stocks recorded their strongest rally in more than a year, helping the Nasdaq 100 end a six-day losing streak. Amazon shares jumped nearly 10% in after-hours trading following strong cloud earnings, while Apple declined 6% due to supply shortages affecting its sales outlook.

Bitcoin had closely followed semiconductor stocks throughout July, moving in sync with broader chip-sector trends. However, the cryptocurrency remained resilient despite last week’s $797 billion selloff in U.S. mega-cap technology stocks, South Korea’s historic market downturn, and the subsequent equity rebound.

A major Bitcoin wallet security issue also failed to impact market sentiment. Around 594 BTC, valued at approximately $38 million, was taken from nearly 500 wallets on Thursday due to a flaw in Coldcard hardware wallet key generation. Despite the incident, Bitcoin prices remained stable.

In currency markets, the Japanese yen weakened after surrendering part of Thursday’s gains, which marked its strongest daily rise against the U.S. dollar in more than two years following fresh intervention efforts by Japanese authorities.

The yen extended its decline after the Bank of Japan maintained its current interest rate policy, as economists had expected. Meanwhile, Treasury prices increased alongside the dollar, while crude oil prices continued their downward move.