Robinhood, Coinbase Stocks Fall, MicroStrategy Rises. What Could Boost Shares. — Barrons.com
By Elsa OhlenCrypto-related stocks opened the week mixed as the industry focuses on a key piece of legislation making its way through Congress.Cryptocurrency exchanges Coinbase Global and Robinhood fell 0.7% and 0.6%, respectively, in early trading Monday. Shares of MicroStrategy, the largest corporate holder of Bitcoin, rose 0.8% while Block, a fintech that also holds Bitcoin for investment purposes, fell 1%.Stocks were generally lower in response to news Friday that Moody's downgraded the U.S.'s credit rating. That means none of the major three U.S. credit-rating companies now rate U.S. debt at the highest possible level.The dip in crypto stocks comes as the Senate is expected to pass a stablecoin bill — the GENIUS Act — as soon as Monday. The bill would regulate digital coins pegged to a fiat currency such as Tether and USD Coin, and require issuers to hold a certain amount of liquid and safe assets, among other provisions.It would mark the first big legislative win for the crypto sector, and stocks tied to the "digital gold" may get a boost — even as the next steps in governing the sector, including regulating exchanges and token issuers, could prove more difficult.If the stablecoin bill passes, it wouldn't be the only milestone for the crypto industry this week. Coinbase, the largest U.S. crypto exchange, is joining the S&P 500, marking the first time a crypto company has been included in the benchmark index.Meanwhile, MicroStrategy said it added $765 million worth of Bitcoin to its coffers, bringing its total holdings to roughly $59 billion based on Monday's Bitcoin price.The company also said a class action lawsuit had been filed against it, alleging violations of securities law. The plaintiff alleges that the company and certain executives made false or misleading statements about the predicted profitability of its Bitcoin investment strategy. MicroStrategy said it intends to "vigorously defend against these claims."Bitcoin was in the red early Monday, hovering around $103,000. Still, the price of the world's largest cryptocurrency wasn't too far from its record high of about $109,000, reached in December.Write to Elsa Ohlen 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.