On January 23, DCG CEO Barry Silbert tweeted recently that against the backdrop of the continued rout of liquid tokens, it is a brutal period for listed companies in the digital asset market.
Shares of Robinhood are down 29.61% since the start of 2021. The stock has fallen more than 80% since it surged to an all-time high above $80 shortly after going public. Meanwhile, shares of Coinbase have fallen 23.5% since the start of the year, closing down $13.38 on Friday.
Friday’s market was even worse for MicroStrategy, with reports that the United States objected to MicroStrategy’s non-GAAP (Generally Accepted Accounting Principles) Bitcoin bookkeeping method. That caused the company’s stock price to plummet, down more than 71% from its February 2021 high.
Venture capital on the sidelines could support valuations when public companies feel the pinch, said LMAX Chief Executive David Mercer. As for publicly traded crypto companies, Mercer said they are being “oversold” in a volatile market. Eric Risley, managing partner of M&A advisory firm Architect Partners, said these current market conditions are not conducive to launching crypto IPOs now.