Bitcoin at $66,300 as yen hits a 40-year low against dollar

Bitcoin held near $66,300 on Wednesday, consolidating a two-week high, as the semiconductor rally that has driven crypto all month extended into a second session and the Japanese yen sank to its weakest level in four decades.

The largest cryptocurrency was up nearly 1% on the day and 3% on the week, with about $31 billion changing hands and a 24-hour range of roughly $65,400 to $66,900.

Ether traded near $1,935, up 3% on the week. XRP added 2% to $1.14 and TRON edged up, while the day’s laggard was hyperliquid’s HYPE, down 4% to $60 and off 10% over seven sessions. Bitcoin’s dominance and the majors’ muted daily moves point to a market drifting higher on macro rather than any crypto-native catalyst.

The engine is still the chip trade. MSCI’s Asia Pacific equities gauge rose 1%, extending Tuesday’s biggest one-day gain in a month, with South Korea’s Kospi jumping 5% as a leveraged-position unwind that had pulled the benchmark nearly 30% off its peak appeared to be ending.

Samsung and SK Hynix led, following a more than 5% jump in a U.S. semiconductor gauge on Tuesday that clawed the index back out of a technical bear-market territory.