New chip stocks crash pressures Bitcoin as well

Has the predicted AI crash finally begun? Well, this week was brutal for shareholders in South Korea for example, where hundreds of thousands of retail investors, who had used leverage to get in on the AI-boom of recent years, saw their positions liquidated all at once.

A turnaround appears to be underway in the US as well. Stocks such as SanDisk and Micron, both linked to the AI-boom, have lost 30% to 40% over the past month. SpaceX shares have dropped 25% since their IPO.

The pressure on stock markets is also weighing on Bitcoin; after briefly touching the $65,000 mark, it is once again heading in the opposite direction as investors soften their risk stance.

KOSPI

The stock market to watch closely this year is undoubtedly South Korea’s KOSPI. This week, it recorded its 37th so-called “circuit breaker” of the year, an event where trading is halted because investors are overly nervous. This is primarily due to the highly volatile trading of AI-related stocks (such as Samsung and SK Hynix) this year. The “ants”, a term coined by the South Korean press for the country’s army of retail investors, are increasingly borrowing money to invest in the KOSPI, following a tripling in the index’s value over just two years.

However, over the past two months, the trend appears to have reversed, and as of this week, the KOSPI has entered a technical bear market.

At the same time, this is putting pressure on risk assets such as Bitcoin. Crypto received a boost from lower US inflation figures this week but took another hit due to the pressure on global technology markets.

At the time of writing, Bitcoin is trading at $63,900.