U.S. cryptocurrency stocks experienced a notable decline during pre-market trading as investors absorbed the implications of President Donald Trump”s recent nomination of Kevin Warsh for Federal Reserve chair. This announcement triggered a significant selloff in the crypto market over the weekend.
The largest publicly traded holder of bitcoin, MicroStrategy (MSTR), saw its shares plummet by over 6%. Similarly, Galaxy Digital (GLXY) faced a drop exceeding 7%. Other companies linked to bitcoin mining and artificial intelligence, including IREN and Cipher Mining (CIFR), both recorded losses of around 4%. The cryptocurrency exchange Coinbase (COIN) also fell by approximately 4%.
Market volatility is on the rise, with the Volatility S&P 500 Index (VIX) increasing by 10% today. The Volmex implied volatility index has surged within the past week, rising from 40 to 50. This metric indicates traders are anticipating larger price fluctuations, reflecting a heightened sense of uncertainty in the market.
Currently, Bitcoin is trading at approximately $77,613.74, indicating a modest gain of around 1% on the day after dipping to a low of $74,500 on Saturday. Precious metals are also under pressure, with gold dropping by 4% to $4,700 per ounce and silver experiencing a similar decline, now at $82 per ounce. In the energy sector, West Texas Intermediate crude futures fell 5% to $62 per barrel.
In contrast, U.S. equity index futures have shown slight recovery, with the Invesco QQQ ETF (QQQ), which tracks the Nasdaq 100 Index, down less than 1% in pre-market activity. The DXY index, representing the strength of the dollar against a selection of major currencies, has pulled back slightly to 97.
According to research from CoinDesk, a clear inverse relationship was noted last week between Bitcoin and the DXY index. As the dollar weakens, Bitcoin has shown signs of recovery once more.
