Crypto Stocks Plummet Amid Bitcoin Slump and Trade War Fears

Cryptocurrency-related stocks experienced a broad decline in pre-market trading on February 3, with Coinbase, a major cryptocurrency exchange, falling over 7%. The sell-off was driven by a combination of factors, including a drop in the price of Bitcoin and escalating trade war fears.

Asian cryptocurrency stocks took a beating as Bitcoin fell to a three-week low, with Japan's Metaplanet and SBI Holdings closing the trading day down 9.44% and 3.60%, respectively. Hong Kong's OSL Group and Boyaa also took hits, losing 2.69% and 4.64%, respectively. Metaplanet was among crypto's biggest losers in the stock market.

Crypto stocks took a deeper hit than broader indexes, with Japan's Nikkei 225 dropping 2.66% and Hong Kong's Hang Seng barely budging, down just 0.04%. The sell-off was linked to the impact of trade war on the general stock market and the crypto downturn, with investors getting fearful on either front.

Altcoins also faced a sharp sell-off, with Ether (ETH) leading the crash, plummeting 16% in just one hour to hit $2,368. The downturn extended beyond Ether, with leading altcoins like Avalanche (AVAX), XRP, Chainlink (LINK), and Dogecoin (DOGE) suffering losses exceeding 20% over the past 24 hours. The total crypto market cap shed 8.45% to stand at $3.1 trillion.

The sudden plunge can be attributed to a combination of stop-loss triggers and fading retail interest. The market may face a prolonged period of uncertainty rather than a single shock, with much depending on how U.S. equities perform during the trading session on February 3.

The Crypto Fear & Greed Index fell 16 points to a score of 44, sliding into the "Fear" zone for the first time since October 11. This decline reflects growing anxiety among market participants following the tariff-induced crash. Bitcoin (BTC) weathered the storm better than most, declining 6.8% over the past 24 hours to $94,743. The relatively modest dip compared to altco