There wasn't a lot of good news in the world of cryptocurrencies this week. FTX filed for bankruptcy protection late last week and the fallout continued throughout this week, culminating in a filing on the company's financial and operating position that included disturbing revelations like payment approval given by a supervisor posting an emoji.
According to S&P Global Market Intelligence, as of this writing, shares of Silvergate Capital (SI -20.00%) are down 18.9% since Friday's closing price, Marathon Digital Holdings (MARA -0.42%) is off 17.8%, Coinbase Global (COIN -0.34%) is down 15.1%, and Solana (SOL -1.99%) tokens have fallen 13.9%. The declines are similar, but the reasons each fell are very different.
There's a lot to consider
There are a few things going on with crypto that affect these companies and token differently. FTX and its founder, Sam Bankman-Fried, were major holders of Solana and had helped build a number of applications on the platform. FTX and Bankman-Fried's trading firm, Alameda Research, which also filed for bankruptcy protection, may need to liquidate their Solana holdings and it looks like traders are bearish on the ecosystem given the tie between the two.
Coinbase has fallen just because it's also an exchange in crypto. The company is publicly traded and has much better guardrails, like a major audit firm, active board of directors, and public financial statements, so this company is very different than FTX. But the market is selling everything in crypto right now, including Coinbase.
Silvergate Capital is down on concerns there will be a run on the bank. The company said on Thursday that it had an average of $9.8 billion of customer deposits so far in the fourth quarter, but that's down from $11.9 billion of deposits on Sept. 30. Some of the drop was as a result of FTX's collapse, but investors are clearly pulling money out at a rapid rate, which can cause problems if the bank has to cover more withdrawals than it has money to cover.
Finally, as Bitcoin falls, the value of Marathon Digital's business declines. Not only does the company generate revenue from mining Bitcoin, but it also had 3,464 Bitcoins on the balance sheet as of Nov. 1. The price of Bitcoin has fallen from over $21,400 on Nov. 5 to $16,937 late Thursday. That's not a trend any miner wants to see continue.
The future of crypto is unclear
FTX was one of the largest exchanges in cryptocurrencies and investors are only now getting a clear picture of what the operation was like. It's very possible more bankruptcy filings will come as risks are unearthed in the web of companies FTX was involved with.
I also think some lasting companies will emerge from this. Coinbase appears to be weathering the storm well and its position as a publicly traded exchange makes it appear more stable than other options. Solana is down, but developers are still active and this could be a leading cryptocurrency to emerge if the crypto winter ends.
I'm more skeptical of Silvergate Capital because it may be losing customers rapidly and I've got a glum outlook on Marathon because I've never been a fan of Bitcoin's use cases.
Investors should be looking at the current tumult as an opportunity to accumulate long-term crypto assets because the industry will eventually emerge from this. The trick will be finding which assets are built for the long term.
