Crypto stocks rally as AI infrastructure trade cools, bitcoin miners fall

A crypto stocks rally stood out Monday as the broader market sold off and investors moved money away from chip and AI infrastructure names. The split matters for retail investors because the market treated crypto platforms and token-treasury companies differently from bitcoin miners, even though both sit near the same digital-asset theme.

BitMine Immersion led the crypto-related gainers, rising 11% after the company said in a Monday update that it increased its ether holdings by nearly 10,000 coins, worth about $19.4 million at current prices. SharpLink Gaming, another company tied to an ether treasury strategy, climbed 6%.

Strategy, known for holding bitcoin on its balance sheet, gained 7% after adding to its cash buffer for a fifth straight week instead of buying more bitcoin, according to CNBC. Coinbase Global, BitGo and Figure Technology each rose between 4% and 6%.

Circle Internet Group advanced 2% after the stablecoin issuer announced it acquired IBM’s portfolio of more than 1,000 blockchain-related patents worldwide. Circle did not disclose the terms of the deal.

Why did crypto stocks rally Monday?

CNBC reported that the move came as oil prices fell sharply, Treasury yields moved lower and investors continued to reduce exposure to memory-chip stocks and other direct AI plays. Owen Lau, an analyst at ClearStreet, told CNBC that pressure on chip and AI infrastructure stocks, concerns about circular financing and rising competition from Chinese semiconductor companies helped push capital toward other market themes, including crypto.

Circular financing, in this context, refers to investor concern that parts of the AI buildout may depend on companies and partners helping fund each other’s spending plans. That can make investors more sensitive to how much debt or new equity companies may need to finance data centers and related infrastructure.

Michael Donovan, senior research analyst at Compass Point, told CNBC that Monday’s weakness in the miner-to-AI group partly reflected worries about capital spending needs and whether those companies may have to raise more money at higher costs to fund their development pipelines.

Bitcoin miners lagged as AI funding worries spread

Bitcoin mining stocks fell across the board, including companies with direct AI exposure and more traditional mining businesses. Cipher Mining dropped 8%, while Hut 8 fell 6% and Terawulf lost 4%. Core Scientific, which CNBC said has mostly shifted away from bitcoin mining, declined 9%.

The weakness also hit pure-play bitcoin miners. Riot Platforms fell 5%, CleanSpark lost 4% and Mara Holdings declined 3%.

Donovan said Nvidia’s reported talks to provide financial support for OpenAI’s plan to lease a new AI data center in Ohio highlighted the growing role of credit in AI investment. He added that some investors are questioning whether demand for credit tied to these projects is nearing its limits, and which developers can fund their plans without meaningful dilution, costly debt or more help from customers and strategic partners.

Many public bitcoin miners are now valued by investors less as bitcoin producers alone and more as owners of digital infrastructure, CNBC reported. Their power capacity, data-center assets and energy contracts can tie their stocks to the AI infrastructure trade, even when bitcoin itself is steady.

Bitcoin was little changed Monday and remained below $65,000, according to CNBC. Ether rose more than 1% to about $1,900.

This story draws on original reporting from CNBC.