NEW YORK — A fresh downturn in bitcoin prices rippled through U.S. equity markets on Friday, pulling shares of MicroStrategy, BitMine and online brokerage Robinhood to their lowest closes since early March, according to exchange data and pricing services.
The world’s largest cryptocurrency slid more than 7 percent in afternoon trading to touch $63,850, its weakest intraday mark since March 2. The decline deepened a week-long retreat that has erased roughly $140 billion from bitcoin’s market capitalization, based on CoinMarketCap figures.
Public companies tied closely to digital-asset fortunes bore the brunt of the sell-off. MicroStrategy Inc. — which has accumulated more than 214,000 bitcoins as a corporate treasury strategy — fell as much as 8.4 percent before finishing down 7.6 percent at $1,327. BitMine Ltd., a Nevada-based bitcoin-mining operator, tumbled 12.1 percent, while Robinhood Markets Inc. lost 6.3 percent, breaching the $18 level for the first time since February 29.
“When the underlying asset shows this kind of velocity lower, highly levered proxies can’t avoid collateral damage,” said one New York-based equity trader with a large Wall Street brokerage, speaking on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to discuss client positions.
Friday’s swoon followed a string of hotter-than-expected U.S. inflation readings that rekindled bets the Federal Reserve will keep interest rates elevated longer than previously anticipated. Higher yields typically weigh on risk assets, and analysts said speculative corners such as crypto are particularly sensitive. “The macro narrative has flipped back to ‘higher for longer,’ and that draws liquidity out of both bitcoin and the equities that track it,” observed Maya Shelton, digital-assets strategist at BlockBridge Research.
The latest downdraft leaves bitcoin roughly 13 percent below its all-time high of $73,797 set on March 14. Still, the token remains up more than 50 percent year to date, buoyed in part by strong inflows into spot bitcoin exchange-traded funds that won regulatory approval in January.
Some market participants pointed to thin holiday-period liquidity as an aggravating factor. U.S. stock and bond markets will close next Friday for Good Friday, compressing settlement windows and encouraging traders to square positions. “You’re seeing people de-risk ahead of long weekends and month-end,” said Michael Yang, options dealer at a Chicago proprietary-trading firm.
Looking ahead, traders will watch the April 3 release of the Fed’s preferred inflation gauge and first-quarter earnings from Coinbase on April 30 for signs of whether Friday’s drop is a temporary air-pocket or the start of a deeper correction. “If ETF inflows resume and macro data cools, we could be talking about new highs by early summer,” Shelton said. “But for now, caution rules the tape.”