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Cryptocurrency-related stocks gave up big gains Thursday even after the price of bitcoin soared above $100,000 for the first time overnight.
MicroStrategy dipped into negative territory to slip 3.5% after surging more than 7% earlier in the day. Riot Platforms and Mara Holdings fell more than 1% each. Meanwhile, Robinhood Markets declined 1.8% and Coinbase Global dropped 1%.
MicroStrategy has become a proxy for bitcoin, as the software company has been buying the digital currency in recent years — driving the stock’s value higher. The stock is up more than 2,700% since 2020, when the company first began buying bitcoin.
Coinbase operates a cryptocurrency exchange platform and is also closely linked with bitcoin. Online brokerage Robinhood also allows its traders to trade bitcoin and several other cryptocurrencies on its app. Meanwhile, Mara Holdings and Riot Platforms both focus on mining bitcoin and digital infrastructure.
MSTR since 2020
Still year to date, MicroStrategy has soared 597%. Robinhood has rallied more than 216%, while Coinbase has risen more than 97%. Mara Holdings has lagged the group with a 17% gain.
Investors became bullish on bitcoin after President-elect Donald Trump won the Nov. 5 election on the expectations of a more relaxed regulatory environment.
“Despite Bitcoin reaching $100,000 being a significant psychological threshold. … the more significant takeaway is that this will increase the likelihood of more institutions and traditional finance investment in the sector,” said Pascal St-Jean, CEO at 3iQ.
“This price appreciation is driven by the perception of an incoming crypto friendly administration resulting from Donald Trump’s election victory, as well as an increase in accessibility to digital assets for investors,” St-Jean added.
Traders have also poured into leveraged MicroStrategy ETFs, according to a research note from JPMorgan on Wednesday. A leveraged exchange-traded fund can amplify the potential gains of an underlying index by holding debt; as a result, it is also viewed as a higher-risk investment fund.
“The inflows into leveraged MicroStrategy ETFs accounted for almost a third of the record high $11bn inflow into overall crypto funds in November,” strategist Nikolaos Panigirtzoglou said in the note.
