** Shares of cryptocurrency and blockchain-related companies slide premarket as bitcoin prices hit lowest levels in two weeks
** Bitcoin eases 5.8% to two-week low of $63,373, falling further away from Thursday's all-time high
** Concerns that the Federal Reserve might start cutting interest rates later than expected have also dampened appetite for riskier assets like cryptocurrency
** Ether prices fall 7.3% to $3,250
** Coinbase Global falls 5%, Bitfarms down 1.8%
** Riot Platforms Marathon Digital , U.S.-listed shares of Hut 8 and Bit Digital down 3.7%-5.9%
** Software firm and BTC buyer MicroStrategy decline 8.6%
** BTC mining machine maker Canaan down 1.5%, while ProShares Bitcoin Strategy ETF falls 4.8%
** Up to last close, BTC had risen 50% YTD, compared with a 44.68% increase in the MVIS CryptoCompare Digital Assets 100 Index
(Reporting by Johann M Cherian in Bengaluru)
((johann.mcherian@thomsonreuters.com;))
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