Author: Stephanie Bedard-Chateauneuf

Bitcoin’s abrupt decline is pulling down crypto stocks such as Coinbase — and even Tesla

Bitcoin’s recent plunge has had a ripple effect, dragging down major crypto-related stocks, including Tesla and Coinbase. The cryptocurrency saw a sharp 7% decline in its price, tumbling from $73,000 to around $63,000 in just under a week. This downward trend was exacerbated by a record daily outflow of $642.5 million from Grayscale’s spot Bitcoin ETF, GBTC, on Monday.

MicroStrategy, a software company known for its Bitcoin maximalist stance, also took a hit, experiencing a nearly 7.5% loss and trading at $1,384 at the time of writing. The company recently completed another convertible note offering to boost its Bitcoin holdings, selling $604 million in notes to purchase 9,000 bitcoin. This move is part of MicroStrategy’s aggressive Bitcoin buying strategy, with the company now owning 214,246 bitcoin, which represents 1% of the total Bitcoin supply.

Tesla, another prominent player in the crypto space, saw its stock price plummet by 60% from its all-time high, currently trading at $171 with a 1.2% decrease in a day. The stock’s volatility was fueled by an interview in which Tesla CEO Elon Musk was questioned about his alleged drug use, following a story published by The Wall Street Journal. Despite the decline, Tesla holds over 10,500 bitcoin, valued at $336 million.

Coinbase, the largest publicly traded crypto exchange, also faced a 3% decline, trading at $230 at the time of writing. The drop in its price is directly linked to Bitcoin’s sharp decline.

Other stocks in the crypto space experienced similar declines. Square, led by Jack Dorsey, saw a nearly 2% drop, hovering around $80. Robinhood, a crypto-friendly company, witnessed a 5% decline in its shares, which fell to $17. Riot Platforms, a crypto mining company, suffered a more than 2% loss, dropping to $11.

Despite the recent downturn, experts remain optimistic about Bitcoin’s future, believing that it will soon recover and reach new heights.

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Crypto Funds’ Year-to-Date Inflows Surpass $13.2 Billion, Exceeding Total for 2021

Year-to-date inflows into crypto funds have surpassed $13.2 billion, exceeding the total for all of 2021, according to data from CoinShares. The surge in investments pushed global listed crypto funds to a new record high in inflows, with $2.9 billion flowing into digital asset investment products for the week ending March 15, surpassing the previous week’s record of $2.7 billion.

The strong inflows in 2022 have already surpassed the total inflows for all of 2021, which recorded $10.6 billion in inflows. Trading volumes for the week totaled $43 billion, the same as the previous week’s record, representing 47% of overall global Bitcoin volumes.

The U.S.-listed spot Bitcoin ETFs continue to be the main source of flows, accounting for $2.95 billion of the total. Other countries such as Brazil, Hong Kong, and Australia saw minor inflows of $24 million, $15 million, and $5 million, respectively. Switzerland saw the largest outflows, declining by $32.6 million, while Canada, Germany, and Sweden experienced combined outflows of $45.8 million.

Bitcoin accounted for $2.86 billion of the inflows last week, comprising 97% of all inflows year-to-date. Smart contract platforms, however, experienced outflows, with Ethereum (ETH), Solana (SOL), and Polygon (MATIC) seeing declines of $14 million, $2.7 million, and $6.8 million, respectively.

Blockchain equities saw inflows of $19 million, the first following a six-week period of outflows. Despite a pullback in prices after Bitcoin hit a new all-time high above $73,800, sentiment in the crypto market remains in ‘Extreme Greed’ territory, suggesting caution in opening new long positions.

Featured image: depositphotos © jamesteohart

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Binance Surpasses $100 Billion in User Assets

Crypto exchange Binance has announced that the value of assets held on behalf of its users has exceeded $100 billion. This milestone comes as a result of strong inflows and rising prices of digital assets in March.

Binance claims to maintain a 1:1 ratio of user assets, with additional reserves, which can be verified using its proof-of-reserves (POR) system supporting 31 digital assets. However, some critics argue that such transparency measures lack the disclosure of audited fiat reserves, client and company liabilities, and other crucial information for assessing a firm’s financial health.

The latest POR snapshot from the beginning of March already showed reserves nearing the $100 billion mark. Thanks to strong inflows and increasing crypto prices this month, Binance has now achieved this milestone for the first time since disclosing its user asset holdings in November 2022, according to a blog post by the firm on Monday.

Binance’s total value locked on its centralized exchange has nearly doubled from around $67 billion to $115 billion over the past year, based on DeFiLlama data.

This achievement for Binance coincides with a record-breaking month for the crypto industry overall. Daily exchange volumes, total value locked in DeFi, assets under management in global crypto investment products, and cumulative trading volume of U.S. spot bitcoin exchange-traded funds all surpassed the $100 billion mark earlier this month.

Featured Image:  Unsplash @ Kanchanara

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