Bitcoin (BTC) fell to a local low of $76,400 in early European trading on Wednesday, marking a second consecutive instance of its apparent demand indicator turning negative. The decline followed a $236 million outflow from U.S. spot Bitcoin exchange-traded funds (ETFs) the prior day, according to data from CryptoQuant. The indicator, which measures the difference between newly mined supply and changes in inactive holdings, suggests that inactive Bitcoin is aging faster than new issuance, signaling reduced spot demand.
BTC briefly recovered to $77,000 but remains under pressure near a previously identified resistance cluster. The move coincided with broader market turbulence, including a sharp drop in the USD/JPY currency pair to 158.5, a level widely interpreted as a potential sign of Bank of Japan intervention, though no official confirmation was issued. Asian equities also declined sharply, with South Korea’s KOSPI falling 4.0% to 6,562.72 and Japan’s Nikkei 225 dropping 2.9% to 64,325.64. Taiwan’s TAIEX followed with a 1.7% decline.
The declines in Asian markets were partly driven by rising oil prices and profit-taking in the artificial intelligence sector. South Korea’s chipmakers SK Hynix and Samsung Electronics saw losses of 4% and 4.7%, respectively, while Japan’s Nikkei was weighed down by tech giants like SoftBank Group, an investor in OpenAI. Earlier in July, Cointelegraph reported rising credit spreads on U.S. hyperscalers, signaling early signs of stress in the AI trade.
The broader bond market also experienced a slight easing, with the U.S. 10-year Treasury yield briefly dipping below 4.8%. However, the decline in Asian equities and the yen’s movement underscored ongoing volatility in global financial markets, with Bitcoin’s performance reflecting broader investor sentiment and liquidity pressures.
