Bitcoin Whipsaws Between $81,000 and $84,000 as Asian Equity Rout and Rising Treasury Yields Weigh on Crypto

Bitcoin traded in a volatile $81,000-to-$84,000 range on Tuesday, October 13, briefly touching above $84,000 before pulling back as a broad Asian stock market selloff deepened global risk aversion. South Korea's Kospi plunged 5.5%, led by Samsung Electronics and SK Hynix on fears over AI investment and Chinese chip competition, dragging risk appetite lower across asset classes. The VIX rose 2.49% to 15.21, and at one point Bitcoin was quoted down 1.44% at $82,477, sitting in the 64th percentile of its 52-week range and off 7.05% year-to-date. Ethereum mirrored the weakness, falling as much as 1.94% to $2,485.63, though both coins were regaining ground by late morning as spot buyers stepped in, with Bitcoin recovering toward $83,385-$83,508 and Ether near $2,505.

Beyond Asia's equity turmoil, market participants cited rising US Treasury yields, a stronger dollar, and uncertainty ahead of US midterm elections as additional headwinds. Havens and commodities offered a partial counterpoint, with copper climbing 1.84% and WTI crude up 1.43%.

The standout mover in the crypto complex was Stacks, the Bitcoin layer-2 token STX, which surged nearly 10% in 24 hours and more than 50% over the past four weeks, sharply outpacing Bitcoin's modest gains. Analysts attribute the rally to the approaching Bonding Period 3 deadline in November, which requires participants to lock a specific ratio of STX alongside BTC to secure protocol stacking rewards, creating concentrated buying pressure. On the Bitcoin network itself, mining difficulty is set to rise approximately 4.74% in about four days, with hashrate at 1.03 ZH/s, AntPool accounting for 27% of blocks mined, and the next halving roughly 548 days away.