Chips, $10.6B in Options, and One Stubborn $BTC Floor Holding on for Dear Life

Bitcoin slid toward $62,000 on Wednesday as a second straight session of heavy selling in technology and semiconductor stocks kept pressure on risk assets worldwide. The largest cryptocurrency traded near $62,546, down 2.1% over 24 hours and 4.9% on the week, sliding back toward the lower end of the range it has held all month, according to CoinDesk data.

Losses were broad-based across the crypto market. Ether fell 3.7% to $1,661 for a 7.2% weekly decline, XRP dropped 2.2% to $1.10 and is down 9.3% on the week, solana lost 3.3% to $69, and dogecoin slid 9.8% over seven days. Hyperliquid's HYPE was the worst performer, down 8.8% on the day and 18.6% on the week to about $61. Tron was the only major token to hold gains, up 3.7% on the week.

The selling pressure originated in equities. A renewed rout in semiconductor shares, the sector that has led markets this year with triple-digit gains, sent the Philadelphia Semiconductor Index down 7.9% on Tuesday, with all 30 members declining. Micron, Marvell and On Semiconductor, each of which more than doubled in 2026, led the drop. The selloff pulled the S&P 500 down 1.4% and the Nasdaq 100 down 3.3%. An attempted rebound in Asian chip stocks failed to hold on Wednesday, with Taiwan Semiconductor down more than 3%.

Brent crude slipped about 1% toward $76 a barrel as tanker traffic through the Strait of Hormuz became more visible following the US-Iran interim peace deal, while a gauge of the dollar climbed to a seven-month high as investors moved toward safer assets. Mike McCluskey, co-founder of tx, said in an email to CoinDesk that bitcoin's stabilization in the low-to-mid $60,000s reflects a measured response to the Federal Reserve's hawkish turn, given how sharply such shifts have historically hit digital assets. US spot bitcoin ETFs have recorded a record 30-day net outflow of more than $6 billion, which McCluskey described as sustained institutional de-risking by the same buyers that drove this cycle, adding that relief rallies are likely to face a hard ceiling until those flows clearly reverse. Bitcoin is holding a fragile floor around $60,000 ahead of a $10.6 billion options expiry, with most positions currently out-of-the-money.