Brent jumps 8%, ECB flags September rate hike. COIN, MSTR, CRCL slide. BTC slips below $65k. Fed rate hike odds rise to 56.5%.
Crypto stocks fell Wednesday, tracking a broad sell-off in digital assets as a surge in oil prices and a hawkish signal from the European Central Bank pushed traders toward safer bets. Coinbase (COIN) dropped 2%, MicroStrategy (MSTR) lost nearly 6%, while Circle (CRCL) fell about 5%. Bitmine (BMNR) slid 8% and Robinhood (HOOD) declined 2%.
Brent crude oil futures jumped nearly 8% to $101.09 a barrel, and West Texas Intermediate crude rose about 7% to $92.77, according to market data. The rally followed heightened U.S.-Iran tensions and ongoing conflict in the Middle East.
The ECB left its key interest rate unchanged at its latest meeting but signaled a potential rate hike in September to curb inflation, according to its policy statement. The news came alongside a decline in U.S. initial jobless claims, which strengthened expectations for a similarly hawkish Federal Reserve. The CME FedWatch Tool now shows a 56.5% probability of a rate increase at the Fed's September meeting, up from roughly even odds a week earlier.
Bitcoin slipped below $65,000, and Ethereum lost about 3%. Higher interest rates tend to reduce liquidity, often pressuring riskier assets like cryptocurrencies.
Among the affected stocks, COIN carries a Weak AlphaScore of 25, while MSTR scores 34 and CRCL scores 28. All three face elevated macro sensitivity, per AlphaScala's model. COIN stock page | MSTR stock page | CRCL stock page
The ECB's next policy decision is scheduled for September 12. The Fed meets again on July 30-31.
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