Bitcoin drops to $81,400 as Asian chip stocks tumble, options traders seek downside protection

Bitcoin BTC$81,513.26 slipped to around $81,400 on Tuesday, down 0.5% since midnight UTC, even after U.S. spot bitcoin exchange-traded funds attracted $526.6 million on Monday, their largest daily inflow in nearly a month.

Asian stocks set the tone, with South Korea’s benchmark Kospi index falling 3.73% to its lowest close since April 7 as SK Hynix and Samsung Electronics declined with renewed worries over AI spending weighing on chipmakers’ shares. Nasdaq 100 futures fell 0.31%.

Altcoin losses were broadly in line with bitcoin. Ether ETH$2,394.22 fell 0.9% to near $2,385 and the CoinDesk 80 (CD80) lost 0.34%, compared with a 0.33% drop for the bitcoin-heavy CoinDesk 5 (CD5). DeFi gave back Monday’s lead, with the sector index (DFX) dropping 1.2%, the weakest of the CoinDesk benchmarks.

Brent crude is near $110 a barrel as Houthi attacks on Saudi Arabia keep supply risks in view. Roughly 70 S&P 500 companies report earnings this week, with General Motors before the bell and United Airlines after the close.