Bitcoin dropped below the $80,000 mark during Asian trading on Thursday, falling to $79,200, a 2.3% decline over 24 hours, after a pair of hotter-than-expected US inflation reports and heightened geopolitical tensions following Xi Jinping's warning to President Trump over Taiwan. Solana led the altcoin retreat, plunging 5.6% to $90, erasing most of its recent weekly gains. Ether declined 2.1% to $2,250, BNB lost 1.6% to $660, and XRP slipped 1.7% to $1.43. Dogecoin was the sole major token in the green, up 0.9% to $0.1126.
The selling pressure intensified around the Trump-Xi summit in Beijing, the first visit by a sitting US president in nearly a decade. China released a readout of Xi's remarks before the meeting concluded, warning of a potential "collision or even clashes" if the Taiwan issue is mishandled, rattling global risk sentiment. Asian equities swung while MSCI's Asia Pacific index edged down 0.1% and mainland Chinese shares fell 1.3%.
Compounding the negative mood, Wednesday's US producer price index rose 1.4% month-over-month, significantly above the 0.5% forecast, and 6% year-over-year. This followed Tuesday's consumer price index of 3.8%, the hottest inflation print in nearly three years. The back-to-back surprises complicated the Federal Reserve's path to rate cuts, removing a key tailwind that crypto markets had priced in. Looking ahead, Bitcoin's next support sits at $78,000, the early-May low, with a break below that potentially opening the late-April capitulation zone.
