Bitcoin rebounds above $81,000 as SK Hynix reports a sevenfold jump in profit
Bitcoin climbed back above $81,000 on Monday, gaining about 0.8% since midnight UTC to trade near $81,400, after falling below $80,000 earlier in the week. The recovery was not confined to the largest token: ether added 0.9% and the CoinDesk Memecoin Index rose 1.3%, with pepe among the stronger movers.
The move tracked a rally in Asian semiconductor shares rather than anything specific to digital assets. South Korea's Kospi jumped 6.6% as SK Hynix rose around 11% after reporting a sevenfold jump in profit, and Nasdaq-100 futures were up 0.5%. Crypto has traded in step with AI-linked equities in recent months, so a strong session for chipmakers fed straight into token prices.
Flows gave the rebound some backing. U.S. spot ETFs took in $176 million on Tuesday, a second consecutive day of inflows. Attention now turns to earnings from Alphabet and Microsoft after the U.S. close, which could set the tone for the AI trade that crypto has been following.
The Federal Reserve announces its rate decision at 18:00 UTC, with CME's FedWatch tool putting the chance of no change at around 92%. Traders will scrutinise Chair Kevin Wash's press conference for any signal that increases are on the table, a question with direct consequences for risk assets including bitcoin.
