Solana Leads Crypto Gains While Korean Chip Stocks Tumble 7%

Bitcoin held near $64,300 on Wednesday, edging up slightly on the day and about 1.1% for the week, staying largely insulated from a broader selloff hitting semiconductor stocks.

Solana led major cryptocurrencies with a 2% gain, trading near $77 and up nearly 1% weekly. Ether rose 1% to just over $1,900, leading the week with a 1.5% gain, while XRP recovered close to 1% to trade just under $1, though it remains down 2% over seven days.

Not all tokens gained ground. BNB slipped slightly to just above $600, down 2% on the week, while Hyperliquid’s HYPE fell over 1% to just above $58, though it still leads all majors over the past seven days with a 7% gain.

Korean Chip Stocks Drive Sharp Regional Selloff

Samsung Electronics and SK Hynix both dropped more than 10% in Seoul trading, pulling South Korea’s Kospi index down over 6% and dragging MSCI’s Asia Pacific index down 2%. The decline followed a 5% slide in the Philadelphia Semiconductor Index on Tuesday, its worst session since late July, with futures pointing to further losses across Europe and the US.

Bond Yields and Fed Minutes in Focus

A global bond selloff pushed 30-year US Treasury yields to their highest level since 2007, raising borrowing costs for companies investing heavily in AI infrastructure. US Treasuries steadied Wednesday, with the 10-year yield easing slightly to 4.69%, while gold climbed as much as 0.6% above $4,360 an ounce.

Minutes from the Federal Reserve’s July meeting are due at 2 p.m. ET, with a Reuters survey showing most economists expect interest rates to remain unchanged in September.