After inflation has set a new record high, risk assets like stocks and cryptos have been seeing a large selloff and price decline. The largest cryptocurrency, Bitcoin fell below $23,000, its lowest in 18 years. Amid the extremely volatile market conditions, a leading crypto lending platform Celsius announced suspending withdrawals, exchanges, and transfers, which caused more decline.
Related: MicroStrategy Adds 660 Bitcoins Worth $25 M
As a result, crypto-related companies saw significant falls. Shares of the analytics software company and major Bitcoin investor MicroStrategy dropped by over 25% today. MicroStrategy has acquired more than 129,000 BTCs in the last 2 years, and the CEO Michael Saylor said they are not going to sell any of the coins.
It's worth mentioning however that the company is reaching a margin call. In March, MicroStrategy borrowed $205 M from crypto bank Silvergate Capital with the three-year loan mostly secured against about 19,466 BTCs. If the coin’s price drops below $21,000 MicroStrategy will need to add more collateral to cover possible losses, MicroStrategy President Phong Le said in a webcast in May.
Other crypto stocks including Coinbase, Galaxy Digital, and Riot Blockchain also are down. Currently, the total crypto market cap stands at around $951 billion, losing about $1 trillion from the start of the year.