Crypto-related stocks took a beating on Wednesday, with high-flying Bitcoin miners with artificial intelligence (AI) infrastructure recently taking the hardest hit.
Bitfarms (BITF), Cipher Mining (CIFR), Hut 8 (HUT) and fell by 10 to 15% in the early hours of the session. Galaxy (GLXY), the digital asset investment firm with a growing data center business, took a beating 15% more than erasing all of its gains after Tuesday’s earnings release.
The CoinShares Bitcoin Mining ETF (WGMI), an industry gauge, was down 7%.
Crypto stocks outside of the mining sector have not been spared either. Bakkt Holdings (BKKT), which surged more than 300% earlier this month, fell another 7.5% and is now down almost 40% in a week. Strategy (MSTR), the world’s largest corporate bitcoin holder, slipped 4% to below $290.
A check of other names like Coinbase (COIN), Robinhood (HOOD), Bullish (BLSH), and Gemini reveals larger losses in the 5-6% range.
Although still holding in the $108,000 zone, bitcoin remained considerably lower after touching $114,000 on Tuesday. On Wall Street, the Nasdaq was down 1%, with chip makers particularly hard hit.
BTC Miners AI Trading Cools Down
BTC miners’ sharp decline suggests their months-long rally, fueled by investor optimism about landing lucrative data center contracts, has collapsed as markets have turned away from risk.
At the height of the AI and high-performance computing bull run, the combined market capitalization of related companies exceeded $95 billion. That amount has since fallen to about $82 billion, according to Farside data.
Bitfarms (BITF) surged more than 400% from September, but has since fallen about 40%, now trading just above $4 per share. IREN (IREN), which is up about 400% year to date and 200% since September, is down about 30% from its all-time high of $73, and is currently trading near $52.
