MarketsJun 19, 2026
Crypto Stocks Diverge From Bitcoin Amid Tech Rally
Rhea Lobo
Strategy and Coinbase rose Thursday even as Bitcoin fell roughly 1% to $63.9K, breaking the usual lockstep between crypto stocks and digital asset prices.
The divergence came as Nasdaq 100 futures jumped, pulling crypto-exposed names into a broad tech rally.
The catalyst for the equity rally was geopolitical. President Trump signed a memorandum of understanding with Iran late Wednesday at the Palace of Versailles.
Crypto itself did not share in the relief. Ethereum, XRP, and Dogecoin experienced declines. Nearly $440M was liquidated from the market in 24 hours, with $300M of that coming from long positions alone.
The Federal Reserve added pressure the same day, holding rates steady but updating its projections. Nine of 18 policymakers now expect higher rates this year, a headwind for crypto assets that compete directly with yield-bearing instruments.
The divergence between crypto stocks and Bitcoin prices is playing out against a broader collapse in the crypto treasury SPAC trade.
ReserveOne abandoned a $1B SPAC merger with M3-Brigade Acquisition V Corp after two large investors demanded the deal be scrapped.
Those investors feared ReserveOne shares would trade at a discount to net asset value, given how far Bitcoin has fallen since the deal was announced nearly a year ago.
The model was pioneered by Michael Saylor, who converted his software company into what is now Strategy in 2020. Strategy shares hit a high above $500 in 2024 and closed at $122.81 on Tuesday. Bitcoin itself is down roughly half from its October peak.
Other attempts to replicate the playbook have fared worse. Since completing its SPAC merger on June 11, Avalanche Treasury Corp.'s stock has dropped almost 90%, slipping under the $1 mark.
Digital asset treasury companies that are already publicly traded have lost about $62B in market value since Bitcoin peaked in October, according to Artemis data cited by Bloomberg.
The short-term recovery in crypto stocks Thursday reflects a tech sentiment shift, not a reversal in the underlying pressure on the sector.
