The cryptocurrency market witnessed a turbulent day as Bitcoin‘s price plunged by over 7%, leading to a downturn in the performance of several prominent cryptocurrency-related stocks. Notable names such as MicroStrategy, Coinbase, Marathon Digital, and others experienced declines, although the scale of the selloff appeared to be less severe compared to recent bearish corrections in the crypto market.
Coinbase, the largest publicly traded crypto exchange, saw a 6% decline during the day, while mining companies Riot Platforms and Marathon Digital experienced drops of 3.6% and 5.1%, respectively, despite their relatively weaker performance amidst the ongoing crypto rally this year.
Additional stocks, including Bitcoin miner CleanSpark, faced a decrease of 3.5%, while MicroStrategy, the leading corporate holder of bitcoin, saw a sharp decline of 9.4%, trading at $1,482 at the time of reporting.
The recent underperformance of crypto stocks coincides with the approach of the next Bitcoin halving, an event occurring roughly every four years, which will reduce the rewards for miners per block from 6.25 BTC to 3.125 BTC.
Kristian Haralampiev, from Nexo, suggested that the recent price pullback could be attributed in part to profit-taking by holders amidst market uncertainty.
Bitcoin faced a second consecutive day of decline as the new month and quarter commenced, amid increasing Treasury yields and a stronger U.S. dollar. The leading cryptocurrency experienced a loss of over 7% on Tuesday, trading below $65,000, marking a two-day loss of approximately 10%. This downturn began on Monday following positive US manufacturing data and as expectations for Fed rate cuts in June diminished.
Simultaneously, the 10-year U.S. Treasury yield reached its yearly peak, while the dollar, which typically moves inversely to Bitcoin, attained its highest level in nearly five months.
The recent decline in Bitcoin’s value may have been exacerbated by the actions of a large Bitcoin holder, often referred to as a “whale,” who transferred over 4,000 Bitcoin to the Bitfinex exchange late on Monday night. Such movements of significant quantities of Bitcoin to exchanges are commonly associated with increased selling pressure in the market.
