Crypto stocks have fallen far more sharply than large-cap tech stocks: Coinbase and Circle have declined 69% and 72% respectively from their peaks, with Bitcoin briefly falling below $60,000, exacerbating bearish sentiment.

Amid a broad sell-off in tech stocks, crypto-related equities have seen particularly steep declines, with their divergence from the broader market continuing to widen. Coinbase (COIN) and Circle (CRCL) have fallen 69% and 72% respectively from their all-time highs, far outpacing the 48% to 57% pullbacks of major tech stocks including Oracle, Salesforce, Netflix, and Palantir. By comparison, the S&P 500 index has dropped just 3.5% from its recent peak. Fundamentally, Coinbase’s first-quarter results missed Wall Street estimates by a wide margin: revenue fell 21% quarter-over-quarter, posting a loss of $1.49 per share, while analysts had previously projected earnings of $0.27 per share. Bitcoin fell below $60,000 this week, down more than 54% from its October peak. Ethereum also dropped to around $1,500, roughly 69% lower than its record high last year, as market sentiment continues to deteriorate. In its mid-year outlook report, 21Shares cut its 2026 crypto market forecast, noting that digital asset price performance is significantly lagging behind the sector’s fundamentals. The firm pointed out that institutional adoption continues to deepen, with stablecoins, asset tokenization, and prediction markets all maintaining strong growth momentum, but Bitcoin’s four-year market cycle remains the dominant driver of price movements. The report also acknowledged a prior misjudgment: “Bitcoin’s cycle is evolving, but it has not broken,” retracting its earlier claim that the four-year cycle was obsolete. Analysts argue that the sharp pullback in crypto equities reflects a combination of three pressures: overall weakness in the digital asset market, uncertainty surrounding structural legislation for the U.S. crypto market, and the potential impact of AI technology on existing business models.