Shares in crypto-related companies declined in Friday's premarket as Bitcoin continued its downward trend for the fourth consecutive session.
The leading cryptocurrency dropped 6.5% to $54,450.0 by 04:01 ET, reaching its lowest point since February. It initially fell below $54,000 before briefly recovering.
The drop affected cryptocurrency stocks, sending them sharply lower in the premarket. MicroStrategy Incorporated (NASDAQ:MSTR), the largest publicly listed corporate holder of Bitcoin, saw its shares plummet more than 9%.
Similarly, bitcoin miners Riot Platforms (NASDAQ:RIOT) and Marathon Digital (NASDAQ:MARA) plunged 7.4% and 8.8%, respectively.
Moreover, CleanSpark (NASDAQ:CLSK) shares fell over 8%, Cipher Mining (NASDAQ:CIFR) slid 9%, and Coinbase (NASDAQ:COIN) lost 6.6%.
The marked decline in Bitcoin comes after Mt. Gox, the defunct crypto exchange that was once the world’s largest, transferred a significant amount of BTC to a new wallet, likely in preparation for creditor repayments.
At 00:27 UTC, Mt. Gox moved 47,228 BTC, worth $2.6 billion, from cold storage to a new wallet, as reported by blockchain analytics firm Arkham Intelligence. The exchange is preparing to distribute assets stolen from clients during the 2014 hack.
This move led to over $580 million in liquidations tied to long positions, marking one of the largest such events this year. Bullish bets on Bitcoin and Ether together suffered losses exceeding $380 million.
Broader crypto prices also fell notably, with Ethereum plunging nearly 10%. Cardano dipped as much as 16%, while XRP tumbled 11.5%.