Bitcoin Gains 4% to Near $81,000 as Asian Tech Stocks Shed $550 Billion

Bitcoin rallied over 4% to trade around $81,000, decoupling from traditional risk assets as an equity rout wiped nearly $550 billion from Asian markets. The stock selloff hit technology and semiconductor shares across South Korea, Taiwan, and Japan following investor concerns over potential regulatory tightening and export curbs on U.S. artificial intelligence data centers and chips. South Korea's KOSPI plunged 5.28%, triggering program trading curbs, while Taiwan's TAIEX dropped 3.28% and Japan's Nikkei 225 fell 3.0%. In other markets, Brent crude tumbled 8.7% to $94.68 per barrel.