Bitcoin Miners Slide as BTC Dips Under $99K, Macro Data Void Triggers Risk-Off

Markets hate fog. With Thursday’s macro data effectively blacked out after the U.S. government shutdown, liquidity stepped back and the highest-beta corners of crypto absorbed the hit—miners first.

Bitcoin slipped under $99,000 for the first time since early May, down roughly 3% over 24 hours to $99,371 and nearly 22% below its record set a little over a month ago. That modest spot move translated into outsized equity pain across mining. Bitdeer Technologies Group fell more than 20%, Bitfarms dropped over 17%, and Cipher Mining declined 13%. MARA Holdings—often cited as the miner holding the largest Bitcoin stack—lost more than 10%. This is classic operating leverage at work: when BTC ticks lower and funding hesitates, power costs and capex don’t flex, so equity absorbs the volatility.

The weakness wasn’t confined to hash producers. Ethereum and Solana each slid about 7%, pressing to four- and five-month lows, respectively. Galaxy Digital fell more than 12%, while Robinhood and Coinbase retreated about 9% and 7%. Crypto treasury vehicles were also hit: BitMine Immersion, described as the largest Ethereum treasury, dropped nearly 10%, and a Bitcoin-focused Strategy product slid more than 6%.

Equities echoed the tone. The Nasdaq finished down 2.5% and the S&P 500 off 1.75% as investors rotated away from tech and other risk-on exposures. Even so, over the past month those benchmarks have held up better than digital assets and crypto-linked companies, which have borne the brunt of de-risking.

The macro catalyst wasn’t dramatic—just absent. The longest U.S. government shutdown in history ended late Wednesday, but it left the Bureau of Labor Statistics unable to complete October CPI collection. A Wall Street Journal consensus still pegs headline CPI at 3% year-over-year—comfortably above the Fed’s 2% target—keeping rate-cut timing uncertain. The labor tape has softened as well: ADP’s real-time gauge indicated U.S. employers shed more than 11,000 jobs per week through late October, while a Goldman Sachs analysis showed nonfarm payrolls fell by 50,000 in October. Sticky inflation plus cooling jobs is a tough mix for risk appetite; it narrows the policy path and suppresses liquidity.

The psychology shows up in prediction markets. On Myriad, 55% now expect Bitcoin to tag $115,000 without breaking to $85,000—a roughly 6% shift toward caution over the last 24 hours. Positioning hasn’t flipped outright bearish, but conviction is thinner.

My read: miners are functioning as the market’s stress gauge. When macro visibility fades, the street demands stronger balance sheets, predictable energy contracts, and disciplined treasury management. Names with high variable power exposure or aggressive expansion plans tend to get repriced first. Until the data feed normalizes and the rate path clears, the miners’ beta to BTC—and to policy uncertainty—likely remains elevated.