FTX collapse leads to contagion, equities hit hardest

Crypto markets and equities tied to the industry felt the pressure last week as the situation around crypto exchange FTX continued to unravel.

Bitcoin was changing hands at around $16,550 at 2:15 p.m. ET Sunday, representing a decline of about 0.8%. Ether fared somewhat more poorly, losing about 3% in the past day. ETH was trading at roughly $1,170 at 2:15 p.m.

BTCUSD Chart by TradingView

Bitcoin is down about 1% over the past seven days while ether is down roughly 6%.

Other cryptocurrencies were trading in a similar range Sunday afternoon, according to data from CoinGecko. Cardano (ADA) was down 3.1% on the day, while dogecoin (DOGE) and polygon (MATIC) lost 4.2% and 4.7%, respectively. 

Crypto contagion

Crypto-related stocks largely suffered a tough week as well.

Coinbase ($COIN) shares fell more than 18% last week, according to Nasdaq data, after initially climbing higher on Tuesday compared to Monday’s open.

Block ($SQ) slid 6.3% while MicroStrategy ($MSTR) gyrated to close the week 0.7% in the red.

The stock price for Silvergate Bank ($SI) closed the week down more than 30% and was among the worst-performing crypto-related stocks tracked by The Block. The company drew scrutiny this week over its links to FTX.

Beyond the realm of stocks, contagion from FTX’s collapse continued to unfold as more industry firms revealed the degree to which they were exposed to the crypto exchange.

Genesis announced Wednesday it would halt all customer withdrawals and loan originations on its platform after taking a significant hit from the fallout of Three Arrows Capital (3AC) and FTX.

“Genesis Lending’s failure will have far-reaching implications within the space, especially in the institutional segment,” QCP Digital said Friday. “Genesis has close business ties to Silvergate bank – the venue for the bulk of crypto’s institutional banking needs; and was running the staking programs of Gemini and Circle – USDC, the former of which Gemini Earn itself has had withdrawals halted since.”

“Many are now expecting DCG to use the most liquid part of the business — Grayscale — to shore up Genesis and other parts of the business,” the note said. QCP had written off a potential sale of GBTC’s bitcoin assets in its 2022 year outlook, but it then said, “we never expected it to be under such circumstances.”

However, those perhaps expecting GBTC to allow a one-off redemption for Genesis to meet liquidity needs are misguided, according to QCP’s analysts, as Grayscale would need the SEC’s approval.

GBTC is currently trading at a discount of -42.7%, its lowest point ever, according to The Block’s Data Dashboard. 

The Grayscale’s ETHE product also hit an all-time low. ETHE was trading at a discount of -40.1%, according to The Block’s data. 

© 2022 The Block Crypto, Inc. All Rights Reserved. This article is provided for informational purposes only. It is not offered or intended to be used as legal, tax, investment, financial, or other advice.