People wait in line for T-shirts at a pop-up kiosk for the net brokerage Robinhood along Wall Street after the corporate went public with an initial public offering earlier within the day on July 29, 2021 in Recent York City.
Spencer Platt | Getty Images
It was a nasty day for tech stocks, and a brutal one for fintech.
Because the Nasdaq suffered its steepest decline since 2022, among the biggest losers were firms that sit on the intersection of Wall Street and Silicon Valley.
Stock trading app Robinhood tumbled 20%, bitcoin holder Strategy fell 17% and crypto exchange Coinbase lost 18%. Much of the slide in those three stocks was tied to the drop in bitcoin, which fell almost 5%, continuing its downward trajectory. The worth of the leading cryptocurrency is now down 19% over the past month, falling after an enormous postelection pop in late 2024.
Beyond the crypto trade, online lenders and payments firms also fell greater than the broader market. Affirm, which popularized buy now, pay later loans, dropped 11%, as did SoFi, which offers personal loans and mortgages. Shopify, which provides payment technology to online retailers, fell greater than 7%.
JPMorgan Chase fintech analysts on Monday highlighted declining consumer confidence as a possible challenge for firms that depend on consumer spending for growth. In late February, the Conference Board’s consumer confidence index slipped to 98.3 for the month, down nearly 7%, the most important monthly drop since August 2021. Walmart recently reported a shift away from discretionary purchases, underscoring the potential trouble.
“Our universe has modestly outperformed the S&P 500 for the reason that election, but sentiment has soured of late on declining consumer confidence and signs of slowing discretionary spend,” the JPMorgan analysts wrote.
The fintech sell-off follows a robust rally within the fourth quarter, driven by Fed rate cut expectations and hopes for a more favorable regulatory environment under the Trump administration.
