Bitcoin mining stocks account for 25% of shares traded for top large caps, outperforming BTC into new year
Yesterday’s stock market, Dec. 27, reflected a surge in investor interest in Bitcoin-related stocks ahead of potential ETF approvals.
Bitcoin mining companies’ stocks soared, outstripping the cryptocurrency’s gains amidst anticipating an imminent spot Bitcoin ETF approval. Marathon (MARA) led the charge as trading volumes swelled, surpassing even Tesla’s activity on the trading floor.
Per Yahoo Finance data, Marathon’s shares escalated to $31.07, marking a 15.24% increase, with a trading volume reaching a towering 105.657 million, significantly beyond its 3-month average of 47.8 million. Further, for all stocks over the $100 million market capitalization threshold, Marathon ended the day (including after-hours trading) second behind Niokola. This bullish behavior dwarfed Bitcoin’s performance, which saw a more modest 3% increase during US trading hours.
Symbol Name Price Change % Change Volume Avg vol (3mnth) Market Cap NKLA Nikola Corporation 0.8921 0.0048 0.0054 112.298 74.423M 1.033B MARA Marathon Patent Group, Inc. 31.07 4.11 0.1524 105.657 48.811M 6.917B TSLA Tesla, Inc. 261.44 4.83 0.0188 105.536 120.157M 831.097B NIO NIO Inc. 9.1 -0.23 -2.47% 98.579 48.524M 16.252B BITF Bitfarms Ltd. 3.51 0.27 0.0833 56.283 20.227M 1.132B CHRS Coherus BioSciences, Inc. 2.69 0.51 0.2339 52.173 5.417M 299.569M WULF TeraWulf Inc. 2.88 0.66 0.2973 50.356 11.673M 693.835M AMD Advanced Micro Devices, Inc. 146.07 2.66 0.0185 48.595 56.366M 235.976B SOFI SoFi Technologies, Inc. 10.32 0.36 0.0361 43.919 39.622M 9.894B TELL Tellurian Inc. 0.9485 0.0666 0.0755 42.475 34.78M 602.148M RIOT Riot Blockchain, Inc. 18.62 1.27 0.0732 42.035 26.359M 3.845B INTC Intel Corporation 50.76 0.26 0.0051 51.822 38.783M 214.004B AAPL Apple Inc. 193.15 0.1 0.0005 47.928 53.39M 3.004T F Ford Motor Company 12.39 -0.06 -0.48% 39.815 54.514M 49.597B CAN Canaan Inc. 3.19 0.16 0.0528 35.906 8.269M 545.637M TLRY Tilray Brands, Inc. 2.24 -0.05 -2.18% 32.813 15.907M 1.657B GOEV Canoo Inc. 0.2467 0.0127 0.0543 32.695 27.476M 193.926M PFE Pfizer Inc. 28.61 0.2 0.007 34.539 39.49M 161.544B IOVA Iovance Biotherapeutics, Inc. 7.23 -1.66 -18.67% 31.204 7.061M 1.85B BLNK Blink Charging Co. 3.68 -0.44 -10.68% 30.042 5.339M 248.061M BTBT Bit Digital, Inc. 4.98 0.78 0.1857 28.496 5.698M 451.975M PLTR Palantir Technologies Inc. 17.47 -0.21 -1.19% 29.258 62.325M 38.015B T AT&T Inc. 16.58 0.01 0.0006 27.674 37.58M 118.547B CIFR Cipher Mining Inc. 5.27 0.29 0.0582 26.997 4.523M 1.355B AMZN Amazon.com, Inc. 153.34 -0.07 -0.05% 30.235 51.244M 1.585T CLSK CleanSpark, Inc. 13.43 1.69 0.144 27.112 21.046M 2.481B BKKT Bakkt Holdings, Inc. 2.36 0.56 0.3111 25.836 3.017M 215.774M CCL Carnival Corporation 18.54 -0.07 -0.38% 25.448 31.911M 24.218B BAC Bank of America Corporation 33.84 -0.02 -0.06% 22.521 48.3M 267.801B RIVN Rivian Automotive, Inc. 23.73 0.14 0.0059 22.445 42.067M 22.727B PLUG Plug Power Inc. 4.71 -0.07 -1.46% 23.925 35.643M 2.852B AAL American Airlines Group Inc. 13.99 -0.12 -0.85% 23.123 36.908M 9.143B CYTK Cytokinetics, Incorporated 83.44 37.73 0.8254 22.015 2.229M 8.182B NVDA NVIDIA Corporation 494.17 1.38 0.0028 23.193 42.668M 1.221T
Bitfarms (BITF), TeraWulf (WULF), and Riot Blockchain (RIOT) also witnessed notable trading fervor, with trading volumes at a combined 148 million shares traded, around double the average volume for the stocks.
Bit Digital (BTBT), CleanSpark (CLSK), Canaan (CAN), and Cipher Mining (CIFR) completed the top performers’ list, up 18.57%, 14.40%, 5.28%, and 5.82%, respectively. These companies also experienced trading volumes that were significantly higher than their recent averages, showcasing the high market interest.
Notably, the top 35 stocks (over $100 million market cap) recorded a total volume of 1.45 billion shares traded. Of those shares, 372 million were related to Bitcoin mining, which accounts for around 25% of shares traded within this segment.
The upswing in these stocks stresses the broader market interest in the Bitcoin space and a desire to gain exposure to stocks with potentially high beta to impending spot Bitcoin ETFs. This movement and the day’s trading data suggest a market brimming with anticipation and a keen eye on the regulatory horizon.
Further, as we approach the next halving in 2024, the current soaring Bitcoin transaction fees are buoying miners, hoping that continually elevated fees can offset the drop in block rewards. If miners can handle the halving better than anticipated due to the Inscription-related fee increase, the mining companies could post outsized returns compared to historical post-halving estimates.