Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies were falling early Friday. However, MicroStrategy has made another major purchase of the largest crypto.
Bitcoin was down 1.5% over the past 24 hours to $64,617. Bitcoin hit a record high near $74,000 in mid-March amid a surge of interest from new spot exchange-traded funds but its price has dropped since then.
Canaan fell over 7%; CleanSpark, Marathon Digital, Riot Platforms fell over 5%; Coinbase fell over 4%.
Cryptocurrencies have been restricted by relatively high bond yields as the market scales back expectations for interest-rate cuts from the Federal Reserve.
“Bitcoin is not so much “digital gold” as it is a speculative instrument driven by excess dollar liquidity. Since 2011, the primary factor driving all major Bitcoin bull markets is when the U.S. Federal Reserve pivots to dovish,” Barry Bannister, chief equity strategist with Stifel, wrote in a research note this week.
Software company MicroStrategy on Thursday announced it had purchased another 11,931 Bitcoin for about $786 million, using the proceeds from a convertible notes offering. Founder and chairman Michael Saylor said MicroStrategy acquired the Bitcoin at roughly $65,833 each, in a post on social-media platform X.
As of June 20, MicroStrategy holds 226,331 Bitcoin that it acquired at an average price of $36,798 per bitcoin.
Ether —the second-largest crypto—was down 2.1% at $3,513, although its price has nearly doubled over the past 12 months.
The Securities and Exchange Commission recently approved critical rule changes to allow spot Ether exchange-traded funds to trade. The final approvals for the ETFs should come this summer, U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission Chair Gary Gensler told senators in a recent budget hearing.
Smaller cryptos, or altcoins, were in the red with Solana falling 2.8% and Cardano dropping 0.9%. Dogecoin fell 0.5%.