NEW YORK – Bitcoin’s price fell to its lowest point in over a month on Friday, triggering a sharp sell-off in publicly traded companies with significant exposure to the cryptocurrency market. Major crypto-related stocks, including business intelligence firm MicroStrategy (MSTR), bitcoin miner Bitfarms (BITF), and trading platform Robinhood (HOOD), all experienced tougher losses than the digital asset itself.
The world’s largest cryptocurrency dropped below the $65,000 mark, a level it has not seen since early March, continuing a week-long slide from its recent all-time highs. The downturn sent ripples across equity markets, particularly impacting firms that have tied their corporate strategies to digital assets. MicroStrategy, the largest corporate holder of Bitcoin, saw its shares fall by more than 8% in morning trading. The company’s stock is often viewed by investors as a leveraged proxy for Bitcoin.
Bitcoin mining companies, whose revenue is directly tied to the price of the tokens they produce, were also hit hard. Bitfarms saw its stock price plunge nearly 10%. “The profitability of miners is exquisitely sensitive to the price of Bitcoin, especially with the ‘halving’ event on the horizon,” one market analyst noted. “Any significant price drop before that event compresses margins and spooks investors.”
Meanwhile, online brokerage Robinhood, which derives a growing portion of its revenue from cryptocurrency trading fees, saw its shares decline by over 5%. The drop reflects investor concerns that falling prices and bearish sentiment could lead to lower trading volumes on the platform.
The sell-off appears to be driven by a combination of factors, including profit-taking after a powerful rally in February and March, as well as broader macroeconomic anxieties over persistent inflation and future interest rate policy. Analysts are now closely watching whether Bitcoin can establish a new floor of support or if further declines could be in store, which would likely place continued pressure on these crypto-proxy equities.