Bitcoin keeps up pressure on $84K as US stocks skirt Korea tech sell-off

Bitcoin (BTC) continued to target $84,000 at Tuesday’s Wall Street open as US stocks attempted to shake off South Korea’s latest tech rout.

Key points:

• Bitcoin approached $84,000 once more at the start of US trading on Tuesday, still up by around 2%.
• US equities avoided a copycat sell-off after Korea’s KOSPI index finished the day down 5.4%.
• Analysis from CryptoQuant warned of increasing US dollar strength challenging BTC price upside as DXY hit its highest level in 18 months.

S&P 500, Nasdaq brush off KOSPI losses

Data from TradingView showed BTC/USD returning to near $83,800 at the start of the US trading session, preserving much of its overnight upside.

BTC/USD one-hour chart. Source: Cointelegraph/TradingView

Equities opened lower on the day after futures fell during Asia trading after Korea’s KOSPI Composite Index shed 7.4% over two days. Semiconductors led the losses amid mounting fears over AI expenditures and competition from China.

Both the S&P 500 index and the tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite index made early gains to briefly turn green on the day, however, both gauges were off less than 0.5% at the time of writing.

Nasdaq Composite Index one-day chart. Source: Cointelegraph/TradingView

“The most important development has been not just bond yields going up, but the volatility for bonds... and ​that’s starting to work its way out through asset pricing across the board,” Damien Boey, portfolio strategist at Wilson Asset Management in Sydney, Australia, told Reuters.  He said:

“It’s a very uncomfortable situation on many fronts... maybe AI capex just comes off the boil a little bit, and maybe a few players are casualties in that.”

Bitcoin remained caged around exchange order-book liquidity, which continued to act as resistance above $84,000, per data from CoinGlass.

BTC liquidation heatmap. Source: CoinGlass

Related: BTC price support holds ahead of US CPI data: Three things Bitcoin traders need to know this week

Dollar strength in focus as DXY hits 18-month highs

Bitcoin bulls are facing a double macro headwind this month, CryptoQuant contributor Darkfost said in market commentary on Tuesday.

With bond yields circling their highest levels in nearly a quarter of a century, US dollar strength has increased markedly. The US dollar index (DXY), which compares the dollar to a basket of US trading-partner currencies, has increased by 5.5% since Sept. 9 and hit 102.57 on the day, its highest levels since April 2025.

US dollar index (DXY) one-week chart. Source: Cointelegraph/TradingView

While the traditionally inverse correlation between DXY and BTC has declined this year, the post on onchain analytics platform sees crypto markets suffering from a lack of risk appetite.

“Taken together, these factors constrain the liquidity available to markets and erode institutional confidence, leaving them reluctant to take on more risk.” he wrote in the blog post, adding:

“The climate is therefore unfavorable for Bitcoin, which is perceived as a highly risky asset, while tech (NDX) and the S&P 500, more mature markets, continue to surge and absorb what little liquidity remains.”