The stock market seems to be holding up, but the crypto market took a huge hit to start the week.
The cryptocurrency market opened the new week under pressure, with total capitalization falling below $4 trillion as major digital assets declined.
Bitcoin (BTC) dropped approximately 3%, while Ethereum (ETH) fell 6%, Solana (SOL) slid 7%, and meme coins, including Dogecoin (DOGE) and World Liberty Financial token (WLF), declined around 10%.
The spot market declines triggered a derivatives cascade, with Coinglass data showing $1.7 billion in leveraged positions liquidated since Sunday.
94% of these were long positions, with Ethereum bulls absorbing the hardest hit at $500 million compared to $280 million in Bitcoin long liquidations. The largest single liquidation occurred on OKX—a $12.7 million long position.
Digital asset treasuries see red, but some bright spots remain
The downturn extended to publicly traded firms with significant digital asset exposure.
According to BitcoinTreasuries.net, more than 180 firms now hold Bitcoin on their balance sheets. Many of them followed the lead of Strategy Inc. (Nasdaq: MSTR), which was one of the first companies to buy bitcoin as a reserve strategy.
While Strategy’s shares slipped 1.3% on Monday, they are still up more than 2,000% since it started accumulating Bitcoin in 2020.
Research from Oslo-based K33 highlights that approximately 25% of Bitcoin treasury firms trade at market caps below the value of their BTC holdings. This undervaluation presents a potential arbitrage opportunity and is drawing the attention of investors and acquirers.
This trend was exemplified by Semler Scientific Inc. (Nasdaq: SMLR), which rose 27% after announcing an all-stock merger with Strive Inc. (NYSE: ASST), backed by Vivek Ramaswamy. The market reaction suggests that investors are starting to see consolidation as a path to realizing latent value in these undervalued treasury moves.
| Company | Ticker | Asset Exposure | Stock Move |
|---|---|---|---|
| Bitmine Immersion | BITM | ETH | -7% |
| Bullish | BLSH | Exchange | -7% |
| Circle | CRCL | Stablecoins (USDC) | -5% |
| Strive Inc. | ASST | BTC | -4.6% |
| Figure | FIGR | Blockchain lending | -4% |
| Gemini | GEMI | Exchange | -4% |
| Coinbase | COIN | Exchange | -3.7% |
| Strategy Inc. | MSTR | BTC | -1.3% |
| Semler Scientific | SMLR | BTC | +27% |
Source: Yahoo
Beyond the specialized Bitcoin treasury niche, the sell-off in stocks weighed heavily across the broader crypto ecosystem.
Bitmine Immersion Technologies (OTC: BITM) — which recently appointed strategist Tom Lee as executive chairman and holds over 2 million ETH — saw shares fall 7%.
Newly public crypto entities also declined.
Circle (NYSE: CRCL) dropped 5%, blockchain lender Figure (NYSE: FIGR) fell 4%, while exchanges like Bullish (NYSE: BLSH) and Gemini (Nasdaq: GEMI) sank 7% and 4%, respectively.
The broad decline occurred despite the Federal Reserve signaling a quarter-point cut to its short-term policy rate last week. Traders had priced in looser financial conditions, but the move failed to steady crypto markets already stretched after this year’s rally.
The week’s downturn is a reminder of the volatility of digital assets. Even with new rules from U.S. regulators, the broader crypto market remains highly correlated during risk-off events, with leverage amplification adding to downward pressure.
