Chips crater, crypto blinks: Lee spots the dip while the chips keep falling

BitMine Chairman Tom Lee said an AI- and war-driven selloff across US, South Korean and Taiwanese markets is spilling into crypto, with $ETH down 1.91% over seven days and $BTC off 0.177%. He cited AI funding and safety concerns, US-Iran war activity, midterm nerves and rising bond yields as pressures hitting semiconductor and memory stocks first before spreading to markets dominated by them.

South Korea bore the brunt: the KOSPI fell 17% in October through October 16 and dropped another 3.5% at Tuesday’s open. Samsung Electronics and SK Hynix accounted for 44% of the index in May and lost 19.74% and 28.38%, respectively, between October 1 and 16, according to JoongAng Daily. Forced liquidations exceeded 50 billion won for four consecutive sessions through October 16, while Taiwan’s TAIEX declined 1.73% over the same October period before falling 3.41% on October 15 after US inflation reached 3.7%, above the 3.6% forecast.

Lee linked the regional de-risking directly to digital assets. “Crypto is widely held in the US, Korea and Taiwan. So naturally, when investors in those regions de-risk, this creates spillover pressures in crypto markets,” he said. Korean investors also invested a net $1.4 billion in BitMine shares in 2025, according to Korea Securities Depository data, while the company holds $ETH as its treasury asset.

At press time, $BTC traded at $81,385, down 1.21% over 24 hours, and $ETH traded at $2,387.07, down 1.47%. $ETH was about 52% below its $4,946.05 peak from August 24, 2025, while $BTC was about 35% below its $126,080 high from October 6, 2025.

Lee nevertheless views resilient fundamentals amid falling prices as an entry point for buyers. “In the past, whenever fundamentals remain resilient and strong, while price declines, these have historically been attractive risk/reward opportunities,” he noted. His argument draws on crypto’s role in upgrading global financial infrastructure and on agentic AI, including the August 2024 rebound when the KOSPI rose 3.3% the day after plunging 8.77%, $BTC briefly topped $56,000 and $ETH climbed above $2,500. Dan Greenhaus of Solus Alternative Asset Management, however, pointed to higher borrowing costs as a pressure that resilient fundamentals may not offset.