Crypto stocks sink as Bitcoin tumbles to new six-month low

Crypto stocks sink as Bitcoin tumbles to new six-month low

Bitcoin sank to a new six-month low on Monday, leaving the digital token 50 per cent below its November peak and pulling down the shares in companies whose fortunes are tied to the cryptocurrency market.

The price of the digital coin slipped 9 per cent in afternoon trading in Europe to $33,307, its lowest point since mid-July. Although it remains the world’s biggest cryptocurrency by market value, Bitcoin has lost more than half its value since peaking at just under $69,000 last year.

The broader digital asset market has also come under intense selling pressure, with an FT Wilshire index tracking the top five digital coins excluding Bitcoin down 27 per cent in 2022.

The sharp falls across crypto markets have ricocheted into the US stock market. A basket of cryptocurrency-related shares collated by Goldman Sachs has shed around a third of its value in 2022. Coinbase, the US-listed crypto exchange, dropped 13 per cent on Monday, while MicroStrategy, a software company that heavily invests in bitcoin, fell by a similar margin.

“This looks like a crash for now,” said Michael Every, global strategist at Rabobank in a note on Monday.

The sell-off has coincided with a wider shift by investors out of speculative assets