Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies are crashing, sending Coinbase stock down, too

Today is a pretty bad day to be a crypto investor. Cryptocurrencies across the board are crashing before U.S. stock markets open—and no one seems to know why.

At the time of this writing, Bitcoin is down over 8.3% to $21,529 per coin. That’s its lowest level in three weeks. Bitcoin isn’t alone in its sudden sell-off, however. Virtually every other major cryptocurrency is crashing this morning. According to data from CoinDesk, Ethereum is down almost 7%, Binance Coin is down over 9%, XRP is down 10.5%, Cardino is down almost 14%, and Dogecoin is down a whopping 15%.

The broad fall of crypto this morning has also sent shares of exchange Coinbase (ticker: COIN) crashing in premarket trading. As of the time of this writing, COIN stock is down 8.35% to $76.50 per share.

So what’s causing this sudden crypto crash? Right now the cause is a mystery, as both CNBC and Reuters admit. The most significant negative crypto news recently is that the HUSD stablecoin lost its peg to the dollar (August 31, 2022), but there’s no indication that news is what’s spooking crypto markets this morning. Bloomberg, on the other hand, is suggesting the sell-off is related to the “growing uncertainty about the direction of monetary policy.”

In short, no one seems to have a certain idea of what’s sparked today’s crash. Whatever the cause, those hoping the crypto winter of 2022 was behind us are likely very disappointed this morning.