Bitcoin drops below $81,000 as risk-off sentiment weighs on Asian equities
Bitcoin (BTC) remained under selling pressure during Asian trading hours on Thursday, dropping below $81,000 alongside a broad decline in regional equities.The world's largest cryptocurrency fell 3.6% over the past 24 hours to $80,764 as of 11:50 p.m. ET Wednesday, while ether (ETH) dropped 6.5% to $2,353, according to The Block's crypto price page.Zcash saw the biggest loss among the top 10 cryptocurrencies, trading down 12.8% at $1,101. Solana lost 4.8%, while XRP slid 4.7%.Asian equities also tumbled on Thursday. South Korea's Kospi slid 8% in the morning session, leading regional losses as chipmakers Samsung Electronics and SK Hynix both fell over 9%. Japan's Nikkei 225 declined 5.2%.The sell-off across crypto and equity markets followed overnight losses on Wall Street after the latest U.S. inflation data showed core CPI rising more than expected, fueling concerns over the Fed's interest rate outlook.Dominick John, analyst at Zeus Research, told The Block that the declines in Asian equities and crypto likely reflected a broader risk-off move, "with weakness in U.S. tech stocks spilling into both markets rather than one directly causing the other.""U.S. inflation rising to 3.7%, above expectations, reignited fears that interest rates will stay higher for longer, putting pressure on risk assets," said John.Meanwhile, crypto liquidations reached $951.4 million over the past 24 hours, including $876.3 million in long positions, according to CoinGlass data.