Bitcoin’s price slid roughly 2% over 24 hours to approximately $62,500, pulling crypto-linked equities sharply lower in morning trade on Friday.
Shares of Strategy (NASDAQ: MSTR), the Michael Saylor-backed firm and the largest corporate holder of Bitcoin, fell nearly 5% alongside Circle (NYSE: CRCL), which also dropped close to 5%.
Bitmine Immersion Technologies (NYSE: BMNR), backed by investor Tom Lee and the largest corporate treasury holder of Ethereum, declined by more than 4% during the same period.
Coinbase (NASDAQ: COIN), the cryptocurrency exchange with heavy exposure to digital asset trading activity, saw its stock fall around 3% in morning trade.
Robinhood, which has been expanding beyond cryptocurrency trading into broader financial products, slipped nearly 2% as the sell-off swept across crypto-linked equities.
Retail sentiment around Bitcoin on Stocktwits trended in “extremely bearish” territory over the past day, with the cryptocurrency ranking among the platform’s top trending tickers.
The broader equity market added further pressure, with the SPDR S&P 500 ETF (SPY) falling 0.12%, the SPDR Dow Jones Industrial Average ETF (DIA) slipping 0.18%, and the Invesco QQQ Trust (QQQ) moving 0.14% lower.
A regulatory setback compounded the negative sentiment, after the Securities and Exchange Commission canceled a Friday meeting that had been expected to address its “Regulation Crypto” initiative.
The SEC said in a statement late Thursday that the meeting was moved to “a later date” due to “an unforeseen scheduling issue,” extending uncertainty over the future of U.S. digital asset rulemaking.
Oil prices also weighed on risk appetite, with West Texas Intermediate crude climbing back above $82 a barrel after two consecutive sessions of declines, stoking inflation concerns among investors.
The United States Oil Fund edged 0.45% higher in morning trade, with retail sentiment on the fund trending in “bullish” territory over the past day.
Geopolitical tensions added another layer of unease, after Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said the U.S. would apply economic measures against Iran “that have never been seen on Iran.”
U.S. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth reportedly said the U.S. military could maintain its naval blockade of Iran “indefinitely,” with ships rotating in and out of the region, further unsettling markets.
The combination of regulatory uncertainty, rising oil prices, geopolitical risk, and a weakening Bitcoin price created a broad risk-off environment that hit crypto-exposed stocks particularly hard on the day.
