Bitcoin dropped to $79,200 in Thursday morning trading in Asia, down 2.3% over 24 hours and 2.2% on the week, slipping below the $80,000 mark after a period of relatively steady price action. The move drew quick attention across the market. Data cited from CryptoAppsy showed the break lower hurt investor confidence, and most major cryptocurrencies moved down with it.
Among large-cap tokens, Solana posted the steepest decline, falling 5.6% to $90 and nearly wiping out gains from the previous two weeks. Ethereum slid 2.1% to $2,250, with a weekly loss of 3%. BNB fell 1.6% to $660, while XRP lost 1.7% to trade at $1.43. Dogecoin stood out as the only major token in positive territory, rising 0.9% to $0.1126.
US-China summit headlines hit market sentiment
The report linked the latest selling pressure to the meeting in Beijing between US President Donald Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping. It was described as the first official visit by a US president to China in nearly a decade, giving the summit unusual weight for global markets. During the talks, Xi raised the Taiwan issue and warned that mishandling it could lead to “conflict or greater tensions.”
Before the meeting ended, China released an official statement and made its position public, with Taiwan highlighted in the text. That development weakened appetite for risk globally and fed into losses across crypto markets. Asian equities also reacted. The MSCI Asia Pacific Index was up 0.8% earlier in the session but closed down 0.1%, while mainland Chinese stocks, after reaching their highest level since 2021 ahead of the summit, still ended the day 1.3% lower overall.
Inflation surprise clouds the rate-cut outlook
Pressure on digital assets intensified after US inflation figures came in above expectations. Producer price index data released on Wednesday showed a monthly increase of 1.4%, far above the 0.5% forecast, while annual inflation reached 6%. Consumer inflation data released a day earlier rose to 3.8%, the highest reading in three years.
Those readings complicated the path for Federal Reserve rate cuts before year-end. Markets had been leaning on the prospect of looser policy as a key support for risk assets, and that support now looks weaker. At the same time, enthusiasm around technology and AI-related investments continued to lift parts of the equity market. Asian stocks reached fresh records, Nasdaq futures added 0.2%, and Cisco shares jumped 20% after its sales outlook topped expectations.
$78,000 becomes the next level in focus
The next support area now being watched for Bitcoin is $78,000, a level last seen in early May. If BTC falls below it, the sharp sell-off zone from late April could return to the market’s view. If the price holds there, attention is likely to shift back to upcoming macroeconomic releases and any follow-through from the recent international summit.