Anticipating the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) approval of a Bitcoin (BTC-USD) ETF, the digital currency exploded from an October low of about $25,000 to a high of $49,954.
Investors were hopeful it would open the floodgates for retail and institutional interest. Instead, approval was met with an expected sell-the-news reaction. It sent Bitcoin prices, and any stock with a hefty number of Bitcoin on hand, screaming lower. And this created a long list of crypto stocks to sell.
Look at MicroStrategy (NASDAQ:MSTR), for example. Holding about 189,150 BTC, which had a value of about $7.7 billion, its stock is slipping with BTC. In fact, since the start of January, MSTR fell from about $727.77 to a low of $470.19.
And unfortunately, Bitcoin fund inflows haven’t started out as strong as hoped. As noted by CNBC, “Citi analyst Alex Saunders said in a Jan. 19 note to clients that inflows ‘have disappointed the most optimistic of expectations.’ In his own Jan. 19 note, Barclays analyst Benjamin Budish deemed the first-week flows ‘marginally positive.’”
Nowadays, investors want to know what’s next for Bitcoin – which is the Bitcoin halving expected in April. Unfortunately, by then, Bitcoin may fall significantly lower. Should that happen, you don’t want to be stuck holding the bag on these crypto stocks to sell.
Marathon Digital Holdings (MARA)
Bitcoin miners, like Marathon Digital Holdings (NASDAQ:MARA) are some of the top crypto stocks to sell. Unfortunately, as Bitcoin has lost value, MARA has lost value, too.
In fact, since late last year, MARA dropped from high of about $31.30 to a recent low of $14.62, thanks to Bitcoin. While MARA appears to have bottomed out at $16.61, with over-extensions on RSI, MACD, and Williams’ %R, there’s not much to get excited about here, unless BTC can break higher.
Also, consider that unless Bitcoin can push aggressively higher, MARA earnings could take a substantial hit, especially with it now holding 15,174 BTC as of the close of 2023. Expect to see multiple downgrades for MARA should BTC continue to fall.
Riot Platforms (RIOT)
Much like Marathon Digital, Riot Platforms (NASDAQ:RIOT) is a miner that’s also dependent on the value of Bitcoin. That would explain why it just plummeted from about $18.75 to a recent low of $9.63.
Technically, it appears RIOT bottomed out, but unless we see BTC recover, RIOT is likely to stay low. It could also take a hit to earnings, with it currently holding more than 7,000 BTC at the moment. In addition, as noted by Seeking Alpha, “Riot has not generated positive cash flows since the shift to Bitcoin mining in 2017, and the nature of Bitcoin indicates that it will likely be harder for them to be profitable over time.”
ProShares Bitcoin Strategy ETF (BITO)
The last time I mentioned the ProShares Bitcoin Strategy ETF (NYSEARCA:BITO), it traded at around $13.
By the time of the Bitcoin ETF announcement, BITO hit a high of $23.83. After all, as I noted at the time, “BITO is mimicking the price of Bitcoin as closely as possible without investing in the cryptocurrency itself.” With Bitcoin now reversing, so is BITO.
Should Bitcoin continue to implode, investors can use the ProShares Short Bitcoin (NYSEARCA:BITI). This one follows the S&P CME Bitcoin Futures Index, with profitability computed daily (before fees and expenses) as the inverse (-1x) of the index’s daily performance, according to ProShares.com. As Bitcoin drops, BITI moves higher.
On the date of publication, Ian Cooper did not have (either directly or indirectly) any positions in the securities mentioned. The opinions expressed in this article are those of the writer, subject to the InvestorPlace.com Publishing Guidelines.