Bitcoin Drops Below $63K as Chip Stocks Trigger Sell-Off

Bitcoin fell below $63,000 at the Wall Street open on Tuesday as a sell-off in Asian semiconductor stocks carried into U.S. markets. Crypto derivatives platforms recorded more than $510 million in long liquidations over the previous 24 hours, and the bitcoin price hit its lowest level since July 17.

The wave of selling began in Asia, where South Korea’s KOSPI index closed down 10.8% in a single session. Major chip-maker SK Hynix lost about 14.8% of its value and Japan’s memory maker Kioxia fell roughly 18.3%. Those declines extended into U.S. trading, with the Nasdaq off about 1% at the open and Micron Technologies dropping more than 10% to its weakest intraday level since late May.

Market participants pointed to renewed scrutiny of large-scale capital spending on artificial-intelligence infrastructure as a pressure point for semiconductor stocks. Combined 2026 capital-expenditure guidance from several major cloud and consumer tech companies is tracking near $725–730 billion, and some projections place total capex toward $900 billion in 2027.

One major cloud company reported a quarterly cash burn of $5.9 billion in its most recent earnings, even as its cloud revenue expanded sharply. Analysts and investors said that financing and profitability questions for hyperscalers are affecting expectations for semiconductor demand.

Competition from lower-cost, open-source AI models also emerged as a factor. Benchmarks for a recently released open-source model showed performance comparable to some proprietary systems, prompting investors to reassess how quickly hyperscalers can monetize their infrastructure spending.

On cryptocurrency markets, BTC/USD slipped under $63,000 and analytics platforms logged the surge in long liquidations. An analytics firm flagged a large cluster of long orders below $64,700 that could trigger further forced selling if that level breaks. The same firm identified limited resistance above current prices and a short-liquidation zone between $65,800 and $66,200.

Traders said the combination of semiconductor-led equity weakness and renewed questions about hyperscaler spending created a risk-off tone that affected other risk assets, including cryptocurrencies. Investors will be watching upcoming earnings and capital-expenditure updates from major technology firms, along with central bank policy signals, for further market direction.

Semiconductor companies are closely linked to expectations for AI-related hardware demand because memory chips and advanced processors are central to data-center upgrades. Large investments by hyperscalers have supported demand forecasts for chipmakers; increased scrutiny of the pace, cost and profit potential of that spending has left the sector sensitive to signs of slower outlays or weaker margins.