- China has implemented a 34% tariff on US-origin semiconductor chips, though most US chip companies that use Taiwan’s TSMC would be effectively exempt.
- Hong Kong‘s Bosera HashKey Ether ETF received approval to offer staking services, while ether has significantly underperformed compared to the broader crypto market over the past year.
Bitcoin held steady above $84,000 as East Asian markets opened for the week, with traders digesting conflicting messages from the White House regarding semiconductor and technology component tariffs. The cryptocurrency’s price stability comes amid ongoing uncertainty in global trade relations, particularly between the United States and China.
Over the weekend, Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick indicated that the White House’s exemption of consumer electronics and their components from tariffs was only temporary. President Trump later confirmed this position, noting that specific tariff rates would be announced in the coming week, though with “some flexibility.”
Markets Respond to Tariff Uncertainty
“The market saw a material rebound as popular consumer electronics categories were exempted from the 125% tariffs on China,” explained BTSE COO Jeff Mei in a statement to CoinDesk. He added, “Even after Trump mentioned that they would simply be moving to another bucket of tariffs rather than exempted altogether, markets held their gain amidst rumors that business leaders were able to convince the Trump administration to peel back some of their highest tariffs.”
Meanwhile, China has announced its own retaliatory measures, implementing a 34% tariff on US-origin semiconductors. However, this may have limited impact on major American chip companies like AMD and NVIDIA, which rely on Taiwan’s TSMC for fabrication—chips China considers as its own territory’s production.
Chinese analysts remain optimistic despite short-term disruptions, viewing the situation as an opportunity to accelerate domestic semiconductor innovation and supply chain localization. According to local media reports, many believe this could ultimately strengthen China’s semiconductor industry in the long run.
Crypto Market Developments
Asian equity markets showed cautious optimism while awaiting final tariff details. Shanghai’s SSE composite index gained 0.8%, Shenzhen’s tech-focused SZSE rose 0.9%, and Hong Kong’s Hang Seng jumped 2.4%.
In cryptocurrency news, Hong Kong’s Bosera HashKey Ether ETF has received approval to offer staking services. This development follows guidance from the city’s Securities and Futures Commission on staking services regulation.
Despite this regulatory advancement, Bloomberg ETF analyst Eric Balchunas noted on X that ether ETFs have struggled to gain market traction. The best performers in this category have actually been short ether ETFs. This aligns with ether’s 47% decline over the past year, significantly underperforming the CoinDesk 20 index, which gained 14% during the same period.
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