Crypto stocks kick off week down bad

Share prices of companies in the cryptocurrency industry plunged after the market opened on Monday, with names like Coinbase and Galaxy Digital trading down by double digits. 

Coinbase kicked off Monday’s session down more than 10%, while MicroStrategy — the firm known for hoarding bitcoins on its balance sheet—was down 13.9%. Galaxy — the merchant bank run by Michael Novogratz —was trading down 17%. 

The bearish start to the week for crypto stocks follows a rough weekend for liquid crypto tokens, which extended into Monday. Bitcoin is down more than 7% since early Saturday. 

Cryptocurrencies and crypto company shares have plunged along with the broader market for tech stocks, which has been seized by concerns about the US Federal Reserve’s plan to scale back its balance sheet and hike interest rates. In such a hawkish environment, investors typically flee riskier investments.

All eyes will now be on the FOMC meeting this week which will begin the Fed’s efforts to reduce its balance sheet as a way to fight mounting inflation. 

Aside from crypto stocks, the Nasdaq Composite was down 1.5% at the time of writing. The Nasdaq 100 was down 1.56%

According to research from investment bank Goldman Sachs, more than half of the Nasdaq 100’s companies have declined by 10% or more since the index’s peak in November.