Voyager's 60% share price plunge leads sea of red for crypto stocks

A 60% plunge of Voyager Digital’s (VYGVF) share price since it disclosed its Three Arrows Capital (3AC) exposure has been accompanied by further falls in crypto industry stocks.

According to data from trading view, VYGVF plunged as much as 60% during regular trading hours on June 22 before closing at $0.5998 to mark a drop of 50.84% for the day.

The sharp drop followed Voyager Digital disclosing that the potentially insolvent Three Arrows Capital (3AC) owes the company 15,250 Bitcoin (BTC) and 350 million USD Coin (USDC) worth around roughly $660 million in total.

Voyager has given 3AC until Friday (June 24) to pay $25 million, and until the following Monday (June 27) to pay full the amount before the loan will be considered in default. The company also stated that it is working with lawyers on how to pursue legal action against 3AC, should the supposed venture fund be unable to repay its debt.

Alameda Research has extended a 200 million USDC revolving loan and a 15,000 BTC revolving loan to cover Voyager’s current liquidity troubles. The company has also tightened its 24 hour withdrawal limit this week from $25,000 to $10,000.

“$10,000 better than $0 at Celsius,” commented Redditor AdLongjumping5010 in the r/CelciusNetwork sub-Reddit in response.

Other crypto-related stocks continued to suffer. Coinbase stock (COIN) suffered a 9.71% dip to $51.91, while the heavily BTC exposed MicroStrategy (MSTR) led by Michael Saylor saw its shares drop 4.50% to $170.91.

Crypto mining stocks also saw notable damage, with Riot Blockchain (RIOT) shedding 9.63%, while Bitfarms (BITF), Hut 8 (HUT), Marathon Digital Holdings (MARA), Core Scientific (CORZ) all dropped around 5-7% a piece.

The crumbling prices of crypto stocks are just a microcosm of a broader downward trend in the stock and crypto markets in 2022, with the benchmark S&P 500 Index in bear market territory and down 21.6% since the start of the year. This marks the first time this has happened since 1970 according to Bloomberg data.

Investors have in general been spooked by the U.S. Federal Reserve’s monetary policy and efforts to curb inflation this year by introducing a series of interest rate hikes.

Fed chair Jerome Powell has kept his cards close to his chest on how the government body will reel in inflation of late however, but did suggest that as the Fed continues to push borrowing costs higher, it could be bracing for a recession.

Testifying to the Senate Banking Committee on June 22, Powell stated "It's certainly a possibility," in response to a question from Democrat Sen. John Tester, adding that "It's not our intended outcome, but it's certainly a possibility." 

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