The price of a stock rises or falls in relation to a number of different factors, including changes to the economy brought about by pandemics. A few studies have already identified the effect of the COVID-19 pandemic on the stock market. However, empirical evidence is lacking on changes in stock price performance of blockchain-based companies as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic. We use the event study approach to estimate stock expected returns by applying an asset pricing model over a thirty-day event window around the announcement on March 11, 2020 by the World Health Organization (WHO) regarding the outbreak of the coronavirus (COVID-19) as a global pandemic, using a sample of S&P Global 1200 companies. Overall, our results indicate more sensitivity in blockchain-based companies' stock prices to the COVID-19 pandemic compared to those of non-blockchain-based companies. Cumulative abnormal returns show that the stock price of blockchain-based companies recover losses slower than non-blockchain companies. Our findings are important for investors and shareholders for future pandemics and events.