Crypto-exposed stocks slide as BTC-bolstered treasuries shed value

The fallout from this month’s violent crypto market meltdown appears to have flowed into the stock markets, with publicly listed firms with exposure to crypto assets seeing significant losses during May.

The month saw Bitcoin (BTC) and other leading cryptocurrencies crash by at least 50%, with BTC plummeting from roughly $60,000 on May 10 to bounce off support at $30,000 last week.

The largest publicly traded firm by number of BTC held in its reserves, MicroStrategy saw its share price slump from $657 at the end of April to roughly $450 as of May 21 — a 31.5% drawdown in three weeks. However, MSTR appears to have benefited from Bitcoin’s 50% bounce from the weekend’s lows, having gained nearly 5% in the last 24 hours to last change hands for $472.45.

According to Bitcoin Treasuries, MicroStrategy’s 92,000 Bitcoin have appreciated in value by roughly $1 billion in total despite the crypto crash.

Tesla also took a beating this month, with its shares tanking 18%, from $709 at the end of April to $581 on May 21. TSLA has rallied 4.4% in the past day to last trade for $606.44.

Despite Tesla suspending Bitcoin as an accepted method of payment for its vehicle fleet on May 12, the firm has yet to announce that it has sold any of the 43,200 BTC from its reserves. Bitcoin Treasuries estimates that Tesla’s BTC stash has increased in value by 10% since the vehicle manufacturer invested $1.5 billion into Bitcoin.

However, not every firm that purchased Bitcoin in recent months is sitting in profit, with Chinese smartphone manufacturer and app developer Meitu having invested $49.5 million near BTC’s all-time highs during March and April. While the firm’s BTC holdings are now worth $35.9 million, Meitu has also seen its share price plummet 19% from roughly $0.31 to $0.26 since the end of April.

Japanese online gaming firm Nexon also announced an ill-timed $100 million BTC purchase on April 28, with the firm’s Bitcoin stash now valued at just $67 million. Nexon’s share price has since tanked 29.5% from $33.35 at the end of April to $23.49 on Tuesday.

However, some analysts believe the sell-off in the tech and crypto sectors may be exacerbated by concerns regarding inflation.

Speaking to Reuters, David Mazza, managing director of leverage exchange-traded funder issuer Direxion, speculated that “Higher-risk assets, whether in the form [...] of cryptocurrencies or the more speculative growth stocks, are seeing their multiples taken down markedly as investors begin to reassess what impact the potential for inflation will have.”