Investing.com-- Bitcoin remained largely unchanged on Thursday as risk appetite stayed subdued amid escalating U.S.-China trade tensions, while MicroStrategy, the largest corporate holder of Bitcoin, posted its fourth consecutive quarterly loss.
Bitcoin was flat at $98,311.0 by 09:20 ET (14:20 GMT).
Bitcoin muted amid US-China trade war fears
Escalating trade tensions between the U.S. and China have recently exerted significant pressure on the cryptocurrency market.
Last week, President Donald Trump implemented a 10% tariff on Chinese imports, citing national security concerns. China responded with retaliatory tariffs on U.S. goods, including liquefied natural gas, coal, crude oil, and farm equipment.
These actions have intensified fears of a prolonged trade war, prompting a shift towards safe-haven assets.
Investor sentiment has been further dampened by concerns over potential inflation resulting from the tariffs, which could weigh on liquidity.
MicroStrategy reports 4th straight quarterly loss, shares down
MicroStrategy Incorporated (NASDAQ:MSTR), now rebranded as "Strategy," reported a fourth-quarter net loss of $670.8 million, compared with a $89.1 million profit last year. This was the company’s fourth straight quarterly loss.
Despite this, Strategy expanded its Bitcoin holdings during the quarter, purchasing 218,887 bitcoins for $20.5 billion, bringing its total to 471,107 bitcoins valued at $45.6 billion.
The loss was largely due to a $1.01 billion impairment charge on Bitcoin holdings, though future earnings will reflect Bitcoin’s actual market value under new accounting rules set for 2025.
The company remains committed to its Bitcoin-focused strategy, planning to raise $42 billion through equity and debt over three years.
Microstrategy stock closed 3.3% lower on Wednesday and fell further 1.4% in extended trade.
Crypto price today: altcoins lower, underperforming BTC
Most altcoins were largely in the red on Thursday, underperforming Bitcoin’s flat performance.
World no.2 crypto Ether lost 2.2% to $2,761.37 on Thursday.
World no. 3 crypto XRP fell 5.7% to $2.396.
Solana was 3.7% weaker, and Polygon sank nearly 5%, while Cardano fell 3.4%.
Among meme tokens, Dogecoin fell around 3.5%.
Ethereum to continue facing ’intense competition’ from other blockchains
Ethereum will likely continue to face "intense competition" from rival blockchains, which have contributed to its recent underperformance relative to Bitcoin and other altcoins, JPMorgan (NYSE:JPM) strategists said in a note.
As the crypto market rallied around the US election, Ethereum’s share of total crypto market capitalization fell to a four-year low.
According to the strategists led by Nikolaos Panigirtzoglou, Ethereum’s struggles stem from strong competition offering lower fees and greater scalability, as well as the lack of a compelling narrative like Bitcoin’s position as a store of value.
"Clearly intense competition faced from other blockchains (in terms of lower fees, more scalability, etc.) and the lack of a compelling narrative like that for bitcoin (being pursued as store of value or digital version of gold) have both played a significant role," they noted.
While Ethereum’s Dencun upgrade introduced blobs to reduce fees and improve scalability, much of the network’s activity has shifted to layer 2 solutions, limiting direct benefits to the main chain. Competitive pressures have also led some decentralized applications to move to application-specific chains that offer better performance.
Despite these challenges, Ethereum remains a dominant force in stablecoins, decentralized finance (DeFi), and tokenization. However, the long-term question is whether the network can sustain its leadership in these key areas amid rising competition.
Ayushman Ojha contributed to this report.