Bitcoin and ether tumbled Monday as risk-off sentiment permeated global markets.
Crypto-related company shares followed suit, with many miners losing more than 10% in pre-market trading while crypto exchange Coinbase dropped 9%.
Crypto-related company stocks slid Monday as escalating tensions in the Middle East and concerns about the strength of the global economy sent bitcoin (BTC) and ether (ETH) tumbling to their lowest levels in months.
Crypto exchange Coinbase (COIN) dropped more than 9% in U.S. pre-market trading. Software developer MicroStrategy, which has a policy of buying bitcoin and holds more than 1% of the total supply that will ever be issued, lost 13%. CoinShares, a crypto asset manager, fell 7.5% in Sweden.
Cryptocurrencies slid after data from the U.S. indicated the world’s largest economy may not be as robust as earlier thought. The Labor Department on Friday posted jobs figures that fell below expectations and a higher-than-forecast unemployment rate. In the Middle East, tensions flared as Iran threatened to attack Israel following the assassination of Ismail Haniyeh, the political chief of terror group Hamas, in Tehran last week. Haniyeh was designated a terrorist by the U.S. in 2018.
Bitcoin, the largest cryptocurrency by market cap, fell as much as 15% on Monday, dropping below $50,000 for the first time since February before recovering to trade around $52,000. Ether, the No. 2, fell for the seventh straight day, posting its biggest drop since May 2021. The CoinDesk 20 Index (CD20), a measure of the broader crypto market, dropped almost 20% and was 16% lower as of 09:00 UTC. Equity markets in Asia and Europe also fell.
Miners plunged alongside bitcoin. Marathon Digital (MARA) and Iren (IREN) both lost almost 14%, Hut 8 (HUT) fell 12% and Riot Platforms (RIOT) lost 11%.
