Samsung Profit Surge Calms Chip Selloff, Crypto Holds Steady

Woofun AI reports that the two-week semiconductor selloff showed its first signs of easing on Thursday, leaving major digital assets largely unchanged. Ether traded at $1,905 and bitcoin at $64,100, both flat, while XRP held at $1.07, solana at $74, BNB at $572, and TRON at 33 cents. Hyperliquid's HYPE token slipped to $54. Trading volumes were modest, with roughly $28 billion changing hands in bitcoin and $10 billion in ether.

The market reaction to earnings reveals elevated expectations rather than fundamental issues. Samsung announced that chip profit rose more than 250-fold due to AI memory shortages, yet its shares moved only 2% after the Kospi swung between a 6% gain and a 2% loss, recovering from a 40% drop from its June peak. Similarly, SK Hynix reported profit up 557% on Wednesday but fell 17%. U.S. earnings also split overnight: Microsoft gained nearly 9% in extended trading on its fastest cloud growth in four years, while Meta fell 8% on a weak revenue forecast. Nasdaq 100 futures rose 1% after the index entered a technical correction on Wednesday.

Per Woofun AI, the weekly performance across crypto reflects thinning liquidity rather than direct equity contagion. HYPE is down 8% over seven sessions, the worst among majors, while XRP has lost 6%, solana 5%, and dogecoin 4% to $0.07. Bitcoin declined 3%, whereas BNB remains the only major holding a weekly gain, up marginally. This divergence suggests that altcoin softness is driven by internal market dynamics rather than external shocks.

Bitcoin tracked semiconductor stocks through most of July, rising and falling with the chip trade. It held through last Thursday's $797 billion drop in U.S. megacap technology and Korea's record two-day decline midweek, remaining flat again now. Such resilience indicates that crypto markets are decoupling from broader equity turmoil, with liquidity constraints becoming the primary driver of price action.