Bearish Bitcoin leads to tumble in crypto stocks, with Coinbase taking a hit

The shares of several U.S.-listed crypto companies experienced substantial declines in their values due to the significant market downturn today, Jan. 23.

Earlier today, Bitcoin’s price retraced more of the gains it made in anticipation of the U.S.-based spot exchange-traded fund (ETF) launches in the U.S. The flagship digital asset dropped below $39,000, marking its lowest value since early December, according to CryptoSlate’s data.

According to Yahoo Finance data, this market movement triggered a 5% decline in crypto exchange Coinbase shares and a 4% dip in business intelligence firm MicroStrategy’s shares during pre-market trading.

JPMorgan analysts downgraded Coinbase’s stock from Neutral to Underweight in response to the crypto market pressure and potential revenue shifts away from Coinbase due to newly launched ETFs.

The analysts explained that the exchange’s stock is valued “on a normalized earnings power at $80/share, suggesting a downside of 35% in its shares.”

Despite a remarkable 2023 performance (COIN +390% vs. SP500 +26%), the analysts foresee challenges for Coinbase this year.

“Cryptocurrency prices are already under pressure; with Bitcoin falling below $40k as of the writing of this note, we see greater potential for cryptocurrency ETF enthusiasm to further deflate, driving with it lower token prices, lower trading volume, and lower ancillary revenue opportunities for firms like Coinbase,” JPMorgan added.

Crypto miners’ stock decline

Bitcoin miners were not immune to the market decline as their stock value also fell.

Marathon Digital Holdings, a Nasdaq-listed bitcoin miner, witnessed a 3.19% pre-market decline, bringing its price to approximately $16.08.

Riot Platforms, another Bitcoin miner, saw a 2.45% decrease to $10.34, while Canada-based miner Hut 8 Corp experienced a 2.05% dip. In addition, CleanSpark recorded a 2.82% decline in pre-market prices.

Julio Moreno, CryptoQuant’s head of research, noted that BTC miners are currently feeling the pain from the flagship digital asset’s lower prices and fees.

“[BTC] prices are down 18% since ETF approval, total daily fees down 87% since mid-December (in BTC terms), and overall daily revenue down 38% also since mid-December (in USD terms),” Moreno explained.