Bitcoin's long-held $80,000 support level finally gave way under consecutive shocks. During Thursday's Asian session, BTC traded at $79,200, down 2.3% in 24 hours and 2.2% over the past week. The level had acted as a floor for most of last week but was broken by a cascade of negative catalysts.
Xi warns Trump: Taiwan is the biggest risk between US and China
Former US President Donald Trump arrived in Beijing on Wednesday, the first sitting American president to visit China in nearly a decade. At the Great Hall of the People, Chinese President Xi Jinping pressed Trump on the Taiwan issue. According to state broadcaster CCTV, Xi said: "The Taiwan issue is the most important issue in US-China relations. Handled well, ties can be largely stable; handled poorly, the two nations could collide or even fall into conflict, pushing the whole relationship into a very dangerous situation." He called "Taiwan independence" fundamentally incompatible with peace across the strait, adding that "peace in the Taiwan Strait is the biggest common ground between China and the US."
China released Xi's remarks before the summit officially ended, putting the spotlight on the self-ruled island ahead of a joint closing statement. Taiwan's foreign ministry said Washington reaffirmed its "clear and firm support" for the island and labeled Beijing as "the only threat to regional peace and stability."
The political shockwave hit Asian equities and crypto markets. The MSCI Asia Pacific index rose as much as 0.8% in early trade but closed down 0.1%. Mainland Chinese stocks fell 1.3% after reaching their highest since 2021 ahead of the talks. The offshore yuan strengthened for an 11th consecutive day — the longest streak since September 2017 — suggesting capital was positioning for outcomes from the summit.
Solana leads losses, Dogecoin bucks the trend
Among major coins, Solana (SOL) suffered the steepest decline, dropping 5.6% to $90, giving back most of its weekly gains — it had been one of the most prominent altcoins over the past two weeks. Ethereum fell 2.1% to $2,250, with a 7-day drop of 3%, making it the second-weakest performer among major cryptocurrencies after BTC. BNB slipped 1.6% to $660 but remained up 3.9% on the week. XRP declined 1.7% to $1.43. The only major coin in the green was Dogecoin, which eked out a 0.9% gain to $0.1126.
Inflation surprises pile up, rate cut hopes dim
The crypto sell-off was compounded by macro headwinds. Wednesday's US Producer Price Index (PPI) came in at 1.4% month-over-month, well above the expected 0.5%, and 6% year-over-year. This followed Tuesday's Consumer Price Index (CPI) reading of 3.8% — the highest in nearly three years. Consecutive inflation surprises complicate the Fed's rate-cut path later this year, removing one of the structural tailwinds that crypto had been pricing in.
Market sentiment is fragile: political tensions over Taiwan and stubborn inflation are pressing risk assets from both sides. Whether crypto can reclaim the $80,000 level depends on how geopolitical events unfold in the coming days and whether the Fed's late-month meeting offers any dovish signals.