Cryptocurrency-related stocks tumbled across the board on Wednesday, with exchanges taking the biggest hit after poor results from Robinhood and rising tensions between Iran and the United States
Robinhood (HOOD), a crypto-friendly digital brokerage, saw its shares plunge nearly 14% late Tuesday after reporting a nearly 47% drop in first-quarter crypto-related revenue.
The weakness spread across the industry as investors took it as a sign of sluggish demand for cryptocurrency trading. U.S. cryptocurrency exchange Coinbase (COIN) and CoinDesk parent company’s institutional-focused exchange Bullish (BLSH) both fell 8%. Gemini (GEMI), the troubled exchange business owned by billionaire investors Cameron and Tyler Winklevoss, fell 6%.
Bitcoin miners Riot Platforms (RIOT) and MARA (MARA) also fell 6%-7%. Strategy (MSTR), the largest Bitcoin owner, fell 4%.
The decline was more pronounced than the cryptocurrency price itself, as Bitcoin It fell below $76,000, down 0.5% in the past 24 hours.
President Donald Trump reportedly rejected Iran’s proposal to end its naval blockade and open the Strait of Hormuz, a key global oil shipping route, adding to the pressure.
The Iranian regime’s proposal involved reopening the strait while delaying nuclear negotiations, but Trump opted to maintain the naval blockade until a broader nuclear deal was reached, Axios reported.
The news sent oil prices surging 6%, with West Texas Intermediate crude topping $100 a barrel on concerns that Middle East energy supply chains may remain under pressure.
Meanwhile, U.S. stocks fell slightly, with the Nasdaq down 0.35%.
The afternoon meeting is expected to bring more catalysts, starting with the outcome of the Fed meeting. Keeping interest rates unchanged will be Jerome Powell’s last meeting as chairman. However, market participants will be watching the accompanying policy statement and Powell’s post-meeting press conference for clues on future direction.
After U.S. stocks close, a number of big tech companies including Alphabet (GOOG), Amazon (AMZN), Meta (META) and Microsoft (MSFT) will report earnings. Traders will view the companies’ AI-related spending as a measure of AI trade and infrastructure development.
