Bitcoin speculators are 'getting burned' and companies that recently pivoted to blockchain are going down with them

Markets Insider

• Bitcoin is in its worst weekly sell-off since 2013.
• The plunge is dragging companies in the cryptocurrency space, including some that recently changed their core businesses.

Bitcoin and other major cryptocurrencies are tumbling on Friday along with the shares of several companies in the space.

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Some of these companies recently announced they were changing their core businesses to focus on cryptocurrencies. Others added "blockchain" to their names and saw triple-digit-percent surges in their stock prices.

But some companies that have traditionally been associated with bitcoin, such as the GPU-maker AMD, are also weaker on Friday amid the heavy crypto selling.

Here's how some of the companies are trading at 10:02 a.m. ET:

• MGT Capital Investments: -24%
• Long Island Iced Tea (changing to Long Blockchain): -22%
• Seven Stars Cloud Group (recently took a 27% stake in a blockchain-based trading system): -17%
• RIOT Blockchain (recently Bioptix, a biotech company): -16%
• Hive Blockchain Technologies (formerly Leeta Gold, an exploration company): -13%
• Siebert Financial Corp. (plans to expand into crypto trading): -11%
• AMD: -5%
• Nvidia: -2%

Bitcoin fell by as much as 25% below 11,000 per dollar on Friday, and was on track for its worst week of trading since 2013.

"What we're seeing in Bitcoin in recent days is what many people have been anticipating for a while which is speculators getting burned by a sharp and aggressive correction," said Craig Erlam, a senior market analyst at Oanda, in a note.

"The rally over the last couple of months has left bitcoin vulnerable to this kind of move and it seems the run up to Christmas has triggered some profit taking on the rally and even a shift into some alternative coins."

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