Bitcoin (BTC) was trading over $79,000 on Monday morning in Asia as the markets across East Asia faced turmoil amidst a continuing global sell-off.
The CoinDesk 20 (CD20), a benchmark for the performance of major digital assets, dropped by 8%.
In mid-morning trading, Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Index plummeted more than 8%, while Shanghai’s SSE Composite Index fell by 7%, and Taiwan’s TAIEX experienced a 9% drop.
Technology stocks in the region were heavily impacted, with Alibaba shares down 12% in Hong Kong and Tencent declining by 9%. In Taipei, TSMC stocks fell by 10% just minutes into trading, triggering a price variation limit that halts trading in both directions.
This significant drop for TSMC occurs even as the U.S. government mentioned that semiconductors from Taiwan would be exempt from tariffs, but the fate of the CHIPS Act, which funded semiconductor factories in the United States, remains uncertain.
This notable decline for TSMC at the start of trading may indicate what is to come for Nvidia when U.S. markets open, with some analysts noting that NVDA has become more volatile than Bitcoin or Ethereum.
In the cryptocurrency market, Ethereum (ETH) saw an 11% decline, XRP was down by 9%, and Solana’s SOL fell by 10%.
Lending protocols like Maker (MKR) and Aave (AAVE) were among the worst off, each dropping approximately 14%.
Liquidation data reveals that around $675 million in long positions were liquidated in the last 12 hours, compared to $123 million in shorts.
TRUMP, the presidential meme coin, fell by 13%, trailing behind leading lending protocols as part of the market’s underperformers.