Good Morning, Asia. Here's what's making news in the markets:
Welcome to Asia Morning Briefing, a daily summary of top stories during U.S. hours and an overview of market moves and analysis. For a detailed overview of U.S. markets, see CoinDesk's Crypto Daybook Americas.
Artificial Intelligence (AI) majors are slightly down despite blockbuster earnings by tech giants Microsoft (MSFT) and Meta, which cited their respective AI efforts as a catalyst for beating earnings.
Microsoft’s cloud revenue jumped 27% to $46.7 billion, with Azure crossing $75 billion annually as demand for AI workloads pushed datacenter capacity past two gigawatts. Meta, meanwhile, reported a 22% year-over-year revenue increase to $47.5 billion, with a 43% operating margin, as AI-powered ad models lifted conversions by up to 5% and engagement on Facebook and Instagram surged.
CoinGecko's AI token category, which includes majors like TAO, NEAR, ICP, and RENDER is down 1.4%. In contrast, the CoinDesk 20, a measure of the performance of the world's largest digital assets, is flat and trading below 4,000.
Typically, AI tokens move in sync with earnings from big tech. Nvidia's record-breaking rally in 2024 helped the category push beyond a $10 billion market cap, but bitcoin's rising dominance in the first half of 2025 pulled some air out of the category — and other types of altcoins — pushing it down to below $5 billion.
Traders across the crypto world today also took a breather, given the Fed's recent messaging, which perhaps explains AI tokens' muted reception to MSFT and Meta's success.
“While policy remained unchanged, Powell’s remark that tariff-driven inflation may only be beginning added a layer of uncertainty that pressured risk assets across the board,” market maker Enflux wrote in a note to CoinDesk.
“With risk appetite fading and macro messaging turning less predictable, markets may remain in a holding pattern until participants gain clarity on inflation direction and policy response for the next few days or weeks,” Enflux continued.
Nvidia is set to report its earnings towards the end of August. Time will tell if the GPU giant's expected solid results will serve as a catalyst for AI token growth.
Market Movements:
BTC: Crypto markets turned volatile on Wednesday as hawkish remarks from Fed Chair Jerome Powell triggered over $200 million in liquidations, with bitcoin briefly falling below $116,000.
ETH: Ether (ETH) is holding above $3,800, up 1.47%, as corporate treasuries, like SharpLink Gaming continue to bid on the asset for their balance sheet.
Gold: Gold fell 1.17% to $3,288.02 on Wednesday as strong U.S. economic data reduced safe-haven demand and reinforced expectations that the Fed will keep rates steady.
Nikkei 225: Asia-Pacific markets traded mixed Thursday as investors weighed new U.S. tariffs on South Korean imports and awaited the Bank of Japan’s expected decision to hold rates steady.
S&P 500: The S&P 500 slipped 0.12% to 6,362.90 after Fed Chair Powell signaled no imminent rate cuts amid tariff-driven inflation concerns.