Coinbase, MicroStrategy and Other Crypto Stocks Finally See Some Relief After Recent Losses

Cryptocurrency-exposed equities were rallying strongly Friday after a rough downturn this week caused by falling crypto prices, weak earnings and stablecoin fears.

Coinbase Global (COIN) jumped almost 18%, MicroStrategy (MSTR) gained over 21% and Toronto-listed Galaxy Digital Holdings (GLXY) rose about 14%. Additional gainers included crypto-focused bank Silvergate Capital (SI), up 23%, and crypto broker Voyager Digital (VYGVF), up 24%.

Bitcoin mining stocks were also up significantly on Friday, led by CleanSpark (CLSK) and Hut 8 (HUT).

Gains in bitcoin (BTC), which was up 4% over the last 24 hours, and ether (ETH), up 5%, along with a broader tech stock rally were helping the cause as investors have recently fled high-growth tech stocks and riskier crypto assets. The tech-heavy Nasdaq composite index was rising over 3% Friday.

Coinbase got a much-needed boost after posting weaker-than-expected earnings on Tuesday that caused its stock to fall as much as 34% this week. Oppenheimer defended the company’s 10-Q risk disclosure that led to investor concerns in a note on Thursday, saying the filing and tweet from CEO Brian Armstrong are “grossly misunderstood and being taken out of context.” Analyst Owen Lau maintained an outperform rating and price target of $197.

Shares of MicroStrategy, which holds billions of dollars worth of bitcoin on its balance sheet, were down as much as 45% at one point this week. Despite bitcoin’s latest declines, CEO Michael Saylor tweeted on Tuesday that the company’s bitcoin-backed loans were not a cause for concern.

The collapse of algorithmic stablecoin terraUSD (UST) along with the LUNA ecosystem also sent broader crypto prices lower this week.

“The extent of the damage caused from the depegging of recent stablecoins, and collapse of LUNA is unknown and will likely continue to play out in the weeks to come, but we expect that recent events in the crypto market to be catalysts for regulation, particularly around stablecoins, which we think would be welcomed by investors,” Chris Allen, an equity research analyst at Compass Point, told clients in a note Friday.

Elsewhere, Robinhood (HOOD), which has a significant crypto trading business, rose over 26% on Friday after it was learned that FTX CEO Sam Bankman-Fried had taken a 7.6% stake in the online brokerage.

Read more: Investor Concerns About Galaxy Digital's LUNA Exposure Are Overblown, BTIG Says