Bitcoin Price Slides. Why the Crypto Selloff Is Dragging Down Block Stock.

Block, which owns Cash App, reported weaker-than-expected quarterly results late Thursday. (Dreamstime)

Key Points

• Bitcoin’s price fell 2.3% to $100,766 over 24 hours, now 25% below its early October record high.
• Block’s shares tumbled 14% after reporting third-quarter Bitcoin revenue of $1.97 billion, missing analyst expectations.
• ZCash surged 20% over 24 hours, while Ethereum, Solana, and XRP also experienced declines.

Bitcoin was sliding again on Friday, extending a recent selloff. Shares in Cash App owner Block were tumbling, too, which is partly because of crypto’s rough run.

Bitcoin fell 2.3% to $99,882 over the past 24 hours, according to CoinDesk data. It is now trading more than 25% off the record high it hit in early October.

Ethereum was down 3.1%, Solana fell 3.8%, and XRP dropped 4.1%, according to the Kraken crypto exchange.

Zcash was the only token bucking the trend, surging 19% over the past 24 hours. Zcash is a so-called privacy coin, meaning it is designed to obscure transaction details.

Crypto insiders are split on if the rally reflects heightened demand for privacy coins, or is a another case of buying by a small group of investors driving up an obscure token’s price.

Bitcoin and its peers have struggled in recent weeks, with investors betting that the Federal Reserve may not cut interest rates much more. Declining rates tend to benefit digital assets that don’t pay interest because they lose appeal relative to interest-bearing investments like bonds.

In other crypto news, Block reported third-quarter Bitcoin revenue of $1.97 billion late Thursday, below the $2.08 billion that analysts polled by FactSet were expecting. The digital payments app developer’s shares tumbled 12% in early trading.

Block also missed the Street’s top and bottom-line targets, so it wasn’t crypto alone that was driving the selloff. But Cash App’s Bitcoin revenue now accounts for 32% of the company’s total sales, so if the recent selloff causes demand for the token to wane, that could hit Block shares further by the time fourth-quarter earnings season comes around.

Write to George Glover at george.glover@dowjones.com