Bitcoin hovers around $83,000 as AI earnings revive tech, ZEC jumps 11%
Strong results from SpaceX and Super Micro sent Asian chip stocks surging, and ZEC led crypto higher after developers set a date for its next network upgrade.
Bitcoin rose 1.3% to just above $82,700 as of Wednesday Asian morning hours, hovering around the $83,000 mark after strong earnings from SpaceX and Super Micro Computer revived the AI trade and sent tech stocks across Asia higher.
ZEC led the majors, jumping 11% to about $1,260, after Zcash developers set the mainnet activation height for NU7, the network’s next upgrade. The activation height is the block number at which every node switches to the new rules.
NU7 cuts the time between blocks from 75 seconds to 25 seconds, so payments confirm three times faster, and sends 60% of transaction fees into a reserve that’s paid out over time. It’s been running on Zcash’s test network since early October.
The rest of the market followed. HYPE and DOGE each gained more than 3%, XRP added nearly 3% to $1.33, and ether rose 2% to about $2,450. BNB and SOL gained between 1% and 2%, while TRX was flat, according to CoinDesk data.
Asia had a big day. South Korea’s Kospi jumped 3.7% and Taiwan’s Taiex gained 1.4%. SpaceX rose 8% in extended trading and Super Micro jumped 16%, and Nasdaq 100 futures climbed 1%.
It wasn’t all good news for the AI buildout, however, as Australian data-center developer Nextdc crashed 40% after it cut its outlook.
Oil kept climbing. Brent rose above $110 a barrel as attacks on ships around the Strait of Hormuz threatened shipments and U.S. industry data pointed to another drop in stockpiles. The dollar firmed a touch, and Treasuries gave back some of Tuesday’s gains.
Hashdex noted in an email to CoinDesk that bitcoin’s bear phase had lasted 359 days as of Sept. 30, against 361, 377 and 411 days for the previous three since 2011. Short-term holders, the most likely sellers on a dip, now own just 16% of bitcoin’s supply, the lowest share since January 2023.
The Fed meets on Oct. 27 and 28. Bitcoin would need to climb back above $84,000 before then to show it’s ready for that test.
Diversified RWA stablecoins sustain 5-7% yield from real credit as crypto funding compresses to ~4%. GENIUS pushes yield off-chain; TAM grows to $4B in 3 years.
Asanat Analysis — Why it matters
Bitcoin's hold near $83k reflects macro risk-on sentiment driven by AI earnings beats, not crypto-specific catalysts. This correlation with tech equity strength—particularly semiconductor upside—shows Bitcoin's current positioning as a risk asset correlated to growth narratives rather than a hedge. The persistence of this relationship underscores that institutional adoption has tied crypto to broad tech valuations and capex cycles.
Zcash's 11% move on a network upgrade announcement illustrates how development milestone certainty can drive momentum in dormant or overlooked L1 assets. However, the disparity between ZEC's move and Bitcoin's relative stability signals that protocol-specific upgrades now compete for capital attention against macro tech factors. This bifurcation—where individual crypto assets decouple from Bitcoin during developer-driven events—suggests market maturation but also fragmentation in narrative-driven flows.