Coinbase and Circle are getting hammered harder than their traditional tech peers. While Oracle, Salesforce, Netflix and Palantir have all seen painful drawdowns of 48-57% from their peaks, Coinbase has dropped 69% and Circle 72% from their respective highs.
The S&P 500, by comparison, has only retreated about 3.5% from its recent high. That’s a stark divergence.
What’s driving it? Part of the problem is broader tech anxiety — investors are worried AI could disrupt existing business models. Semiconductor stocks have held up reasonably well despite some volatility. But crypto equities face a double whammy: weak digital asset markets and stalled progress on crypto market structure legislation in the US.
Bitcoin dipped below $60,000 this week, now down over 54% from its October peak. Ether has been even worse, recently hitting around $1,500 — roughly 69% below last year’s high.
The earnings picture isn’t helping either. Coinbase reported Q1 results that missed Wall Street expectations badly. Revenue fell 21% quarter-over-quarter, and the company posted a $1.49 loss per share versus analysts expecting a $0.27 profit.
21Shares has trimmed its 2126 crypto outlook, noting that despite strong institutional adoption in stablecoins, tokenization and prediction markets, prices have significantly underperformed fundamentals. Their take: Bitcoin’s four-year cycle remains intact, and growing institutional ownership has moderated drawdowns without fundamentally changing the pattern.
