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Crypto mining firms have seen double-digit drops after Bitcoin (BTC) experienced its most significant decline in nearly four months.
Over the weekend, the value of Bitcoin plummeted to as low as $40,000 after reaching a high above $43,900, causing a ripple effect across the mining industry.
Numerous mining companies witnessed double-digit drops in their stock prices.
TeraWulf (NASDAQ: WULF) tumbled as much as 23.5% in trading, Bit Digital (NASDAQ: BTBT) experienced a decline of 19.7%, Marathon Digital (NASDAQ: MARA) dropped 15.2%, and Riot Platforms (NASDAQ: RIOT) saw a 14.5% decrease at its lowest point.
The sharp decline in Bitcoin’s price, coupled with the leveraged nature of mining operations, explains why mining companies suffered even more substantial losses than the cryptocurrency itself.
These firms generate Bitcoin through mining activities and hold Bitcoin on their balance sheets, meaning that a drop in Bitcoin’s value adversely affects both their income statements and balance sheets.
Investors Worry About Upcoming Halving
Investors are also expressing concerns about Bitcoin’s upcoming halving, set to occur in 2024.
During this event, miners will receive only half the number of Bitcoins per block as they did previously, leading to lower profit margins for mining companies across the board.
The sudden drop in Bitcoin’s price raises questions, as it occurred late in the weekend when trading typically exhibits lower liquidity.
It is noteworthy that last week’s positive economic news, such as a robust jobs report, would have typically impacted the market earlier.
Meanwhile, some have attributed the decline in Bitcoin’s price may have been influenced by funding rates of perpetual futures contracts.
These rates, collected every eight hours, represent payments between long and short positions and indicate whether futures trade at a premium to the spot market.
The funding rate dropped below 0.1%, suggesting reduced market leverage, possibly due to formerly bullish traders adjusting their positions.
Bitcoin Crash Indicates Deleveraging
As reported, Bitcoin’s brief but sharp tumble toward $40,000, accompanied by a broader selloff in the crypto market, signals a potential deleveraging phenomenon rather than a fundamental news catalyst.
The leading cryptocurrency has been on a remarkable rally this year, driven by expectations of regulatory approval for the first US exchange-traded funds directly investing in the cryptocurrency.
This anticipation has expanded the potential investor base for cryptocurrencies.
Additionally, bets on the Federal Reserve cutting interest rates in 2024 have further fueled the rally in Bitcoin and the broader virtual currency market.
Richard Galvin, co-founder at Digital Asset Capital Management in Sydney, highlighted the substantial rise in market leverage, attributing the recent fall to a market deleveraging rather than any specific fundamental news catalyst.
“The current fall looks like a market deleveraging as opposed to any fundamental news catalyst.”
