Bitcoin and crypto stocks are sinking after last week’s rally

Bitcoin and crypto stocks retreated on the last trading day of September, following a rally last week, but are still poised to post a good month.

The flagship cryptocurrency ended down 3.5% at $63,612.63, after briefly retrieving the $65,000 level last week, according to Coin Metrics. Crypto stocks are similar Coinbase down 3% in market trading as well MicroStrategy down 5%.

Investors are eyeing strikes at ports up and down the East Coast and Gulf Coast by midnight Monday, which could disrupt the economy ahead of the holiday season.

Analysts are also warning of overbought conditions as bitcoin last week rose nearly 5% in the five days ending September 27 – as net inflows into global crypto derivatives accelerated to the highest level since mid-July. At the same time, Coinbase and MicroStrategy gained 12% and 21%, respectively. On Friday both stocks jumped 6%.

The combined volume of purchases of US bitcoin ETFs last week (16,774 BTC) exceeded the one-month supply of newly mined bitcoin (13,500), according to Bitwise-owned ETC Group. This is largely due to policy changes by the People’s Bank of China, the company said.

This month, bitcoin is on track to end its strongest September ever with an 8% gain and its second good September – historically the cryptocurrency’s weakest month – in a row.

Coinbase is poised for a 4% monthly gain but is down about 14% for the quarter. Some analysts see the downtrend continuing in the coming weeks. Meanwhile, MicroStrategy is up 33% for the month and nearly 28% for the quarter.

The market is entering a strong part of the season for crypto assets and risk in general.

Bitcoin’s narrative is often disputed – whether it is a store of value or a risk commodity – but its correlation is currently closer to that of the S&P 500 than gold, and investors expect it to benefit from reduced prices, clarity following the US presidential election and seasonal and positive market conditions that translate into flows. the biggest in crypto ETFs.