Bitcoin Price Slides. Why the Crypto Selloff Is Dragging Down Block Stock. — Barrons.com
By George GloverBitcoin was sliding again on Friday, extending a recent selloff. Shares in Cash App owner Block were tumbling, too, which is partly down to crypto's rough run.Bitcoin fell 2.3% to $100,766 over the past 24 hours, according to CoinDesk data. It's now trading 25% off the record high it hit in early October.Ethereum was down 2.6%, Solana fell 2.8%, and XRP dropped 5.1%, per the Kraken crypto exchange.ZCash was the only token bucking the trend, surging 20% over the past 24 hours. ZCash is a so-called privacy coin, meaning it's designed to obscure transaction details. Crypto insiders are split on if the rally reflects heightened demand for privacy coins, or is a another case of a small group of investors teaming up to pump an obscure token's price.Bitcoin and its peers have struggled in recent weeks, with investors betting that the Federal Reserve may not cut interest rates much more. When borrowing costs hold steady, that tends to weigh on digital assets, because they lose appeal relative to interest-bearing investments like bonds.In other crypto news, Block reported third-quarter Bitcoin revenue of $1.97 billion late Thursday, below the $2.08 billion that analysts polled by FactSet were expecting. The digital payments app developer's shares tumbled 14% ahead of the opening bell.Block also missed the Street's top and bottom line targets, so it wasn't crypto alone that was driving the selloff. But Cash App's Bitcoin revenue now accounts for 32% of the company's total sales — so if the recent selloff causes demand for the token to wane, that could hit Block shares further by the time fourth-quarter earnings season comes around.Write to George Glover at [email protected] content was created by Barron's, which is operated by Dow Jones & Co. Barron's is published independently from Dow Jones Newswires and The Wall Street Journal.