Bitcoin buyers plunge as investors' crypto euphoria fades

By Tommy Reggiori Wilkes and Elizabeth Howcroft

LONDON/PARIS, Sept 10 (Reuters) - Companies that accumulate and hoard bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies have suffered sharp drops in their share prices as the crypto euphoria that has gripped investors recedes.

These companies sell shares or issue debt to raise cash for buying crypto held on their balance sheets. Investors have been snapping up their listed shares, encouraged by bitcoin's BTC= record highs this year as U.S. President Donald Trump embraces the sector.

Shares in Michael Taylor's Strategy MSTR.N, the best known of these bitcoin buyers, have fallen from $457 in July to $328 this week. That is the lowest since April and cuts its gains this year to 13%.

Japanese bitcoin treasury company Metaplanet 3350.T this week hit its weakest since May. The shares are down more than 60% from their June peak but remain 105% up so far this year.

Small companies that have transformed the fortunes of their shares - and their stock-owning executives - simply by announcing a sudden shift in strategy to bitcoin-buying have also taken a hit.

The scale of the reversal is "entirely unsurprising", said Kaiko analyst Adam McCarthy.

"These are all essentially volatility plays as they are leveraged exposure ... so if bitcoin is down 3%, they’re down a multiple of that, sometimes four or five times as much," he said.

"For retail users it’s a shock a lot of the time, so it probably compounds the downturn when some sell out of fear."

Smarter Web Company SWC.ASE, a UK business that built websites, watched its share price soar after announcing a bitcoin-buying strategy. The stock is down 70% since June.

Shares in Alt5 Sigma ALTS.O, which has been buying tokens in Trump's World Liberty Financial crypto venture, have tumbled by 63% from their June high.

Bitcoin-hoarding has spread to other cryptocurrencies, too, with more companies buying up ether ETH= and lesser-known digital currencies.

"Until retail users realise that these firms aren’t buying into crypto, rather they’re selling a crypto narrative to pump their equity value, this circle will persist," Kaiko's McCarthy said.

Shares of Peter Thiel-backed BitMine BMNR.A and gaming media network GameSquare GAME.O rocketed this year after they announced plans to buy ether. Both have slumped by about 67% since July.