Days before the anticipated approval of a spot Bitcoin exchange-traded fund (ETF), Marathon Digital, a mining company, has surged to the forefront of the U.S. mid- and large-cap stock rankings, overtaking major blue-chip stocks like Tesla, Apple, and Amazon in trading activity.
According to Yahoo Finance market data, Marathon Digital saw a trading volume of over 105 million shares in the last 24 hours. Riot Blockchain, another Bitcoin mining firm, also made its mark, ranking as the sixth-most traded stock with more than 40 million shares traded in a single day.
The heightened trading activity in Bitcoin mining stocks coincides with an intensified push by mining companies to expand their operations. This drive comes ahead of the expected approval of a spot Bitcoin exchange-traded fund in early January and in preparation for the Bitcoin halving scheduled for April. Marathon recently announced plans to acquire two mining centers for $179 million, which would boost its existing mining capacity of 584 megawatts with an additional 390 megawatts.
Riot Blockchain also expanded its mining capability two weeks ago by purchasing Bitcoin mining rigs worth $291 million. This move marked the company's most substantial increase in hashrate to date.
Despite Bitcoin's remarkable growth throughout 2023, climbing over 163% since the year's beginning, Bitcoin mining companies have significantly outperformed the leading cryptocurrency. Marathon Digital and Riot Blockchain have shown exceptional year-to-date gains of 767% and 452%, respectively, according to TradingView. Additionally, Coinbase, the largest publicly traded cryptocurrency exchange, has seen robust growth, soaring more than 450% since the beginning of 2023.
While crypto-related stocks were favored as short trades earlier this year, traders taking a negative stance on the cryptocurrency industry might be facing unexpected challenges. Over $6 billion worth of cryptocurrency-related short positions have been liquidated so far this year, signaling potential difficulties for those betting against the industry.
