Crypto-Related Stocks Are Moving Lower: What's Going On?

Crypto-related stocks including Coinbase Global Inc COIN, Marathon Digital Holdings Inc MARA and Riot Platforms Inc RIOT are trading lower Wednesday following a head fake from the Securities and Exchange Commission regarding the approval of spot Bitcoin BTC/USD exchange-traded products.

What Happened: A post on X from the official account of the SEC indicating a spot bitcoin ETF had been approved made the rounds on social media shortly after the market close on Tuesday.

The tweet was quickly removed from the social platform and SEC chair Gary Gensler addressed the post, saying the SEC’s account was compromised and the post was “misinformation.”

“The SEC has not approved the listing and trading of spot bitcoin exchange-traded products,” Gensler said Tuesday in a post on X.

Bitcoin popped after the initial post went live, but it quickly reversed course and has trended lower since the SEC made it clear that an ETF had not been approved. Many anticipate SEC approval as soon as this week. Bitcoin was last down more than 3% over a 24-hour period.

Coinbase is the leading cryptocurrency exchange platform in the United States. The company is focused on building a more accessible, efficient and transparent financial system enabled by crypto. Coinbase shares were down approximately 3% at last check.

Marathon Digital is engaged in mining digital assets. The company is focused on the Bitcoin ecosystem. The stock was down 3.5% at publication time. 

Riot Blockchain is focused on building, supporting and operating blockchain technologies with a vision to become the leading Bitcoin-driven infrastructure platform. Shares were down 3.43% Wednesday morning.

See Also: Spot Bitcoin ETF Contenders Slash Fees Ahead Of SEC’s Decision Day: ‘Two Years Worth Of Fee War Condensed Into A Couple Days’

$BTC Price Action: Bitcoin was down 3.91% over a 24-hour period at $44,996 at the time of publication, according to Benzinga Pro.

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