Crypto majors hold steady as chip fears ease

Major cryptocurrencies traded within narrow ranges on Thursday as Asian semiconductor shares stabilised after Samsung Electronics reported a dramatic rise in chip earnings, easing pressure across technology-linked risk assets.

Bitcoin hovered near $64,100, while Ether changed hands around $1,905. XRP traded at about $1.07, Solana near $74 and BNB around $572. Tron was little changed at roughly $0.33, while Hyperliquid’s HYPE token slipped towards $54.

Trading activity remained subdued. Bitcoin recorded about $28 billion in turnover over 24 hours, while Ether volumes stood near $10 billion, suggesting that many traders were reluctant to take large positions following sharp swings in global equity markets.

The calm session contrasted with a weaker weekly performance across most leading digital assets. HYPE was down about 8% over seven days, making it the poorest performer among the major tokens. XRP had lost roughly 6%, Solana was down 5% and Dogecoin had declined 4% to around $0.07. Bitcoin was about 3% lower for the week, while BNB remained marginally higher.

The stabilisation followed Samsung’s disclosure that profit at its semiconductor division had risen more than 250-fold from a year earlier, driven by shortages of advanced memory chips used in artificial intelligence servers. The company’s chip business generated operating profit of about 89.2 trillion won during the second quarter, helping offset losses in its mobile division.

Samsung reported group operating profit of about 89.5 trillion won on revenue of 171.5 trillion won, both quarterly records. Strong demand for high-bandwidth memory and conventional DRAM products supported earnings as cloud computing companies accelerated investment in artificial intelligence infrastructure.

Samsung shares, however, rose only modestly despite the scale of the earnings increase. The restrained reaction reflected concerns that chip valuations already incorporate years of rapid profit growth. Investors are also assessing the potential impact of aggressive capital expenditure, expanding production capacity and intensifying competition from China.

SK Hynix faced a harsher response after reporting a 557% increase in operating profit. Its shares fell sharply as earnings failed to match elevated market expectations, contributing to one of the steepest technology-led declines in South Korea’s equity market.

The Kospi index swung between substantial gains and losses during Thursday’s session before settling, after falling more than 40% from its June peak. Semiconductor shares across Japan and Taiwan also came under pressure during the sell-off, highlighting the extent to which regional markets have become dependent on the artificial intelligence investment cycle.

Crypto assets had tracked semiconductor shares through much of July as both markets responded to shifting expectations for technology spending, interest rates and global liquidity. Thursday’s limited movement suggested that the relationship had weakened, at least temporarily.

That divergence may reflect thinner liquidity in digital-asset markets rather than renewed confidence. Crypto trading volumes have declined as investors wait for clearer signals from monetary policy, corporate earnings and geopolitical developments. Lower activity can suppress price movement during quiet sessions but also increase vulnerability to abrupt moves when larger orders enter the market.

The performance of major US technology companies offered mixed signals. Microsoft shares gained almost 9% in extended trading after the company reported its fastest cloud-computing growth in four years. Meta Platforms fell about 8% after issuing a weaker revenue outlook, underscoring uneven returns from large investments in artificial intelligence infrastructure.

Nasdaq 100 futures advanced about 1% after the index entered a technical correction, defined as a decline of at least 10% from its latest high. The rebound helped stabilise sentiment, although investors remained cautious about high valuations and the sustainability of artificial intelligence-related earnings.

Samsung said demand for advanced memory products remained strong and warned that global chip shortages could extend into 2028. The company has secured long-term supply agreements covering a large portion of planned production capacity and expects revenue from its newest HBM4 memory chips to more than triple during the third quarter.

Those projections strengthened expectations that data-centre spending will continue to support semiconductor earnings. They also heightened concerns that rapid factory expansion by Samsung, SK Hynix and Micron Technology could eventually create excess capacity if artificial intelligence investment slows.