The plunge is being amplified in traditional markets as well, as shares in Strategy (MSTR), Bitcoin’s leading treasury firm, have fallen even further, dropping nearly 7% since trading opened on Thursday to change hands around $88.
“On a short-term basis, STRC is the tail wagging the Bitcoin dog,” Bitwise CIO Matt Hougan told Decrypt.
“While there are also macro factors at work—rising concerns about inflation, worries about rate hikes, etc.—the market can't keep its eyes off STRC trading in the $70s,” he added. “It's worried Strategy will enter some kind of death spiral and be forced to sell Bitcoin. This pressure will likely continue until Strategy clarifies how it plans to deal with the issue.”
The second-largest crypto asset has not been spared, with Ethereum sinking to $1,576—a drop of 2.6% in the last 24 hours, fueling a more than 25% plunge in the last 30 days. At its current mark, ETH sits just 5.2% above its resolution point of $1,500 on Myriad. According to Hougan, ETH is “mostly caught in the crossfire” as “collateral damage” amid the STRC concerns.
Bitcoin is currently nearly 53% off its all-time high of $126,080 set last October. Meanwhile, ETH is more than 68% off its all-time high of $4,946 from last August.
