Bitcoin climbs to $87K as South Korea's KOSPI drops 5.5% on AI fears and Chinese chip threat

Bitcoin rebounds while KOSPI slides on AI worries

South Korea's stock market took another sharp hit on Tuesday as concerns over AI spending and Chinese competition weighed on chipmakers. The KOSPI dropped 5.5% during Asian trading, leaving the index about 38% below its June peak. Bitcoin, by contrast, has climbed from around $58,000 to as high as $87,000 since bottoming near that low shortly after the KOSPI hit its all-time high.

The contrasting moves have drawn attention, with a rolling correlation of -0.41 between bitcoin and the KOSPI showing a moderately negative relationship.

Key numbers

• The KOSPI fell 5.5% on Tuesday, now roughly 38% below its June high.
• Bitcoin has recovered about 40%, rebounding from near $58,000 to as high as $87,000.
• SK Hynix fell around 10% and Samsung Electronics around 7%.
• Micron Technology and SanDisk were both down about 3% in U.S. premarket trading.
• The rolling correlation between bitcoin and the KOSPI is -0.41.

What triggered the latest selloff

Two developments intensified pressure on chip stocks this week. According to the Financial Times, Broadcom CEO Hock Tan likened speculative AI investing to gambling in a casino, raising questions about whether the industry can generate returns that justify large infrastructure spending. Meanwhile, Bloomberg reported that Chinese memory-chip rival CXMT claimed a memory-chip breakthrough, adding concerns about competition and the durability of chipmakers' profit margins.

Why the divergence matters

The contrasting moves between bitcoin and South Korean stocks suggest bitcoin may benefit as investors reduce exposure to the AI trade. However, the source notes that correlation alone does not establish capital rotation, meaning it is not certain that money leaving AI stocks is flowing into bitcoin.

Sources

• CoinDesk
• Financial Times (cited in CoinDesk for Hock Tan's remarks)
• Bloomberg (cited in CoinDesk for CXMT breakthrough)