Bitcoin mining stocks continued their freefall this week even as BTC price held quite well. Marathon Digital stock price plunged to $8 on Wednesday, the lowest level since April 10th. Similarly, Riot Platforms and Argo Blockchain have retreated to $9 (April low) while Argo Blockchain was hovering at $1.
Bitcoin mining stocks tend to move in the same direction as BTC. And recently, Bitcoin has well even as a sense of fear spread in the market. The CNN Money fear and greed index dropped to the extreme fear zone of 25 while the US dollar index (DXY) jumped to $106.7, the highest point in months.
Similarly, as I wrote here, the iShares 20+ Treasury ETF (TLT) plunged to the lowest level since 2014. Popular ETFs like Invesco QQQ and SPDR S&P 500 ETF (SPY) have all dropped by more than 7% from their highest point this year.
The small-cap Russel 2000 index has done much worse as it moved into a correction zone. As I noted before, Bitcoin mining stocks like Cipher Mining and Riot were the best performing stocks in the Russell 2000 this year.
Therefore, Bitcoin mining stocks like Riot Platforms, Argo Blockchain, and Marathon Digital have remained under pressure even as Bitcoin has outperformed equities. Bitcoin was trading at $26,700 on Thursday, higher than this month’s low of $24,800. Other coins like Tron, Chainlink, and Terra Classic have also jumped recently.
Therefore, these stocks have likely crashed as investors remain afraid of the macro factors in the US economu. The Fed has pointed to another rate hike this year, which will push them to between 5.50% and 5.75%.
There are also persistent inflation fears. The most recent data showed that the headline consumer inflation jumped to 3.7% in August. Gasoline prices have jumped, meaning that inflation could bounce back to 4% soon. UAW workers have gone to a strike, raising concerns of higher vehicle prices for longer.
Most importantly, Bitcoin mining stocks are falling as investors worry about their profitability this quarter. While Bitcoin has remained above $26,000, it remained below the year-to-date high of over $32,000. Also, as I warned last week, Bitcoin has formed a death cross pointing to more downside.
