Cryptocurrency-linked stocks gapped down in Wednesday premarket trading as bitcoin ( BTC-USD ) came under selling pressure as weaker Chinese data suggests a slowdown in global growth. The two largest digital tokens by market cap -- bitcoin ( BTC-USD ) and ethereum ( ETH-USD ) -- drifted down 2.9% to $27.11K and 2.2% to $1.86K at 8:54 a.m. ET, respectively. BTC, in particular, snapped its six-session winning streak and is on track to log a 7.3% drop for May, marking the worst monthly decline since the collapse of crypto exchange FTX ( FTT-USD ) late last year. China's official NBS Manufacturing PMI unexpectedly fell to a five-month low of 48.8 in May, indicating a faster-than-forecast contraction in the world's second-largest economy's factory activity. U.S. stock index futures also slipped at the time of writing amid growing pessimism on China's economic woes. Among crypto-related stocks driving lower in premarket trading: Coinbase Global ( NASDAQ: COIN ) -3.2% , Marathon Digital ( NASDAQ: MARA ) -2.9% , Hut 8 Mining ( NASDAQ: HUT ) -3.9% , MicroStrategy ( NASDAQ: MSTR ) -2.3% , Bit Digital ( NASDAQ: BTBT ) -5.5% and CleanSpark ( NASDAQ: CLSK ) -3.1% . Hawkish remarks from Federal Reserve Bank of Cleveland President Loretta Mester likely added to the downward pressure around cryptos and other risk assets. Speaking to the Financial Times in an interview, she argued that there is no "compelling" reason to stop hiking interest rate as long as the data show more needs to be done to control inflation. More on the Crypto Market Poor bitcoin sentiment prompts fifth straight week of outflows from crypto funds Bitcoin said to trade at discount on Binance Australia vs. rival crypto exchanges Bitcoin's Wild Ride: A Look At Price Volatility And Two Key Factors You Need To Know
