Crypto-linked stocks Coinbase Global Inc (NASDAQ:COIN), Riot Blockchain Inc (NASDAQ:RIOT) and Marathon Digital are set to open significantly lower when trading commences in New York on Friday after reports revealed that SpaceX dumped its entire Bitcoin holding.
Coinbase, the crypto trading platform, is down close to 4.5% in pre-market trading, having closed at US$79, while crypto miners Riot Platforms and Marathon Digital are down 10.6% and 9.2% respectively.
SpaceX, the spacecraft engineering group founded by Elon Musk, has sold all its holdings in Bitcoin, the Wall Street Journal reported on Thursday evening, which in turn led to a sharp sell-off of the cryptocurrency until early Friday morning.
Although the exact quantity of Bitcoin sold remains undisclosed, financial records saw SpaceX's expenses - which also accounts for property acquisition, equipment, and R&D - total US$5.2 billion in 2022.
SpaceX followed in the footsteps of Musk’s Tesla Inc (NASDAQ:TSLA) which, according to its third-quarter update, sold approximately 75% of its initial $1.5 billion investment.
Dropping as low as US$25,000, Bitcoin managed to recover slightly on Friday and although it is down close to 10% in the last five days it is currently trading a little under US$26,500.
In 2021, Musk, formerly one of Bitcoin’s largest proponents, publicly disclosed SpaceX's ownership of the cryptocurrency, which coincided with Tesla's announcement of its plan to acquire $1.5 billion worth of the coin.
In turn, this significantly boosted Bitcoin's value to an all-time high of over $43,000.