Altcoins Rally as Warsh Remarks Lift Bitcoin Past $60K

Bitcoin pushed back above $60,000 for the first time in more than a week after Federal Reserve Chair Kevin Warsh said inflation risks were receding. Solana led the majors with a roughly 16% weekly gain, while a slide in semiconductor stocks pressured Asian equities and cooled the AI-driven rally that has siphoned capital from crypto this quarter.

By Thursday, bitcoin was trading above $60,700 following a sharp overnight bounce, as Warsh’s comments offered a reprieve to a market that had spent much of June drifting lower. Speaking at the European Central Bank’s annual forum in Sintra, Portugal, he said “inflation risks have come down” and reiterated the Fed’s commitment to returning inflation to its 2% target.

Warsh gave no clear guidance on the Fed’s next move, saying policymakers would evaluate incoming data ahead of the upcoming meeting. In the wake of his remarks, bitcoin reversed earlier losses and reclaimed the $60,000 level.

Solana outperformed other large-cap tokens, rising about 4% on the day to around $78 and posting a weekly gain near 16%. Ether traded around $1,630, up roughly 3%, while XRP hovered near $1.06. BNB, dogecoin, and Tron, however, lagged over the week.

In traditional markets, the more significant action was in equities. A semiconductor selloff spread to South Korea, dragging the Kospi index down nearly 7% before it pared losses. Shares of Samsung Electronics and SK Hynix each dropped more than 6%, while Japan’s Kioxia tumbled 13% after a rally that had lifted the stock more than 650% this year.

The pullback revived concerns that the rapid advance in artificial intelligence stocks may have run ahead of fundamentals.

Two developments added to the uncertainty. Reports indicated Meta is building a cloud platform to monetize excess AI computing capacity, raising fears of overexpansion. Meanwhile, Apple is said to be in talks with Chinese chipmakers, a move that could weigh on South Korean suppliers.

The AI trade has absorbed much of the quarter’s capital flows, coinciding with bitcoin’s decline and contributing to one of its rare consecutive quarterly losses. Funds have rotated into chipmakers and AI infrastructure as crypto markets closed a weak first half, suggesting that any sustained cracks in AI equities could ease pressure on digital assets.

Elsewhere, Brent crude slipped to about $70.60 per barrel, its lowest level since late February before Middle East tensions escalated, as traffic through the Strait of Hormuz normalized.

Gold rose for a second straight session to trade above $4,060 per ounce following Warsh’s comments, while the U.S. dollar steadied after two days of gains.

Whether bitcoin can hold above $60,000 may hinge on whether the weakness in AI-related stocks deepens into a broader rotation back toward risk assets or proves to be a brief correction.