Crypto stocks decline as bitcoin slips below $40,000
23/01/2024 09:42
** Shares of cryptocurrency and blockchain-related companies
decline in premarket trading as bitcoin falls below the
$40,000-mark, hitting a more-than-seven-week low
** Bitcoin BTC= , the world's biggest cryptocurrency, down
1.86% at $39,069.89, while Ether ETH= falls 3.87% to $2,234.73
** Crypto exchange Coinbase Global COIN.O falls 4.6%,
while Blockchain farm operator Bitfarms BITF.O down 3.3%
** Separately, J.P. Morgan downgrades COIN to "underweight"
from "neutral"
** Crypto miners: Riot Platforms RIOT.O Marathon Digital
MARA.O , U.S.-listed shares of Hut 8 HUT.O , and Bit Digital
BTBT.O down 3.4% - 4.0%
** Software firm and BTC buyer MicroStrategy MSTR.O
declines 2.4%, BTC mining machine makers Canaan CAN.O down
3.5%
** ProShares Bitcoin Strategy ETF BITO.P falls 2.7%, while
ETFs tied to spot price of bitcoin like iShares bitcoin ETF
IBIT.O , Ark 21Shares ARKB.N and Grayscale Bitcoin ETF
GBTC.K fall close to 3% each
** BTC is down 8% YTD after rising over 150% in 2023
(Reporting by Shashwat Chauhan in Bengaluru)
((Shashwat.Chauhan@thomsonreuters.com;))