Bitcoin slides toward $82,000 as China stocks enter bear market

Bitcoin slid back toward $82,000 on Thursday as a sell-off swept Asian stock markets and pushed China's benchmark index into a bear market, CoinDesk reported. The prices in the snapshot above are from our last build and may differ from live quotes.

Asia's rough session

• China: the CSI 300, which tracks the 300 largest stocks listed in Shanghai and Shenzhen, fell 2%, leaving it 20% below its June peak — the usual definition of a bear market.
• Region: Japan's Nikkei 225 lost about 3%, South Korea's Kospi 3.5%, Hong Kong's Hang Seng 3% and Taiwan's benchmark 2%.
• Hong Kong tech: Chinese technology shares had their worst session since the April 2025 "Liberation Day" tariff shock, according to Bloomberg's David Ingles, and the sector index is now more than 40% below its peak.
• Volatility: the VIX jumped about 10% to around 18, and Nasdaq 100 futures fell almost 2%.

Crypto and other havens slip too

Bitcoin had pushed above $84,000 late Wednesday before giving the move back, as we covered in this morning's ETF flow update, where $82,500 was flagged as near-term support. The retreat came alongside, not against, other assets often seen as hedges: gold fell more than 1% to below $4,100 an ounce and silver dropped over 3.5% to around $55.

What's driving it

Two forces stood out. First, oil: Brent crude rose above $112 a barrel and WTI topped $100, the highest levels since May. Second, mixed US earnings revived doubts about artificial-intelligence spending: Tesla fell about 3% after hours after cutting its capital-spending forecast, while Meta raised the lower end of its spending guidance. Easing US Treasury yields, with the 10-year near 5.08% after a recent peak around 5.4%, did not stop the slide.

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