U.S. Crypto Stocks Plunge as Bitcoin Prices Slide

Pre-market trading on Friday saw a decline in U.S. stocks related to the cryptocurrency space as bitcoin (BTC) fell to its lowest level since February.

Bitcoin dropped 5.8% daily to trade at $54,400 in Europe after hitting its lowest point since late February.

The two worst-hit companies were bitcoin miner Hut 8 (HUT) and Michael Saylor’s software company MicroStrategy (MSTR), which currently has over 210,000 BTC; they fell 8.5% and 9.5%, respectively.

A range of 6% to 7.5% was experienced by other mining companies, such as Riot Platforms (RIOT), CleanSpark (CLSK), and Marathon Digital (MARA). Coinbase, a cryptocurrency exchange, saw a 6.5% loss.

As of mid-morning in Europe, the price of Bitcoin is roughly $54,400, down 5.8% in only a single day. It had previously dropped to $53,600, the lowest since late February.

The drop occurred at the same time as the now-defunct cryptocurrency exchange, Mt. Gox, announced it was starting to reimburse creditors ten years after it crashed and transferred $2.6 billion worth of Bitcoin to a new wallet. The possibility that receivers may sell their coins right away has alarmed traders, putting pressure on mass sales.