Crypto-related U.S. equities fell in pre-market trading as market participants continued to digest President Donald Trump’s Friday choice of Kevin Warsh as his nominee for Federal Reserve chair, which spilled over into a sharp crypto selloff over the weekend.
Strategy (MSTR), the largest publicly traded holder of bitcoin, fell more than 6%, while Galaxy Digital (GLXY) dropped over 7%. Bitcoin mining and AI-linked companies are also weaker, with IREN (IREN) and Cipher Mining (CIFR) both losing around 4%. Crypto exchange Coinbase (COIN) is also lower by roughly 4%.
Volatility continues to rise, with the Volatility S&P 500 Index (VIX) up 10% on the day. The Volmex implied volatility index has surged over the past week, climbing from 40 to 50. Implied volatility reflects the market’s expectation of future price swings, with higher readings indicating that traders are pricing in greater uncertainty and larger moves ahead.
Bitcoin is up around 1% on the day, trading near $77,000 after dipping as low as $74,500 on Saturday. Precious metals remain under pressure, with gold falling 4% to $4,700 per ounce and silver also sliding 4% to $82 per ounce. Oil is weaker as well. West Texas Intermediate futures fell 5% to $62 a barrel.
U.S. equity index futures, in contrast, recovered slightly, with Invesco QQQ ETF (QQQ), which tracks the Nasdaq 100 Index, down less than 1% in pre-market trading.
The DXY index, which measures the strength of the dollar against a basket of major currencies, has pulled back slightly to 97. CoinDesk Research noted that bitcoin and the DXY showed a clear inverse relationship last week. Once again, bitcoin is ticking higher as the dollar eases.