Crypto-Linked Stocks See Billion Dollar Bump From Retail

Cryptocurrency-related stocks saw inflows of nearly $1 billion dollars last week, due to a resurgence in retail investment, according to a report from VandaTrack. 

Last week, Marathon Digital Holdings, Coinbase Global and Riot Blockchain were among the most purchased assets Fidelity reported being traded on its platform.

Although down some 40% year-to-date, over the past month, Marathon Digital shares have gained 133%, while those of Coinbase and Riot Blockchain have also both increased by at least 50%. For instance, Coinbase had recently struggled with falling trading volumes.

Consequently, the NYSE FactSet Global Blockchain Technologies Index is now on track for its largest monthly gain since Feb 2021. Since the beginning of the year, the Bloomberg Galaxy Crypto Index, which tracks the largest digital assets including Bitcoin, has risen about 35%.

Meanwhile, half of the 20 best-performing U.S. exchange-traded funds (ETFs) since the end of June have also been crypto-related. 

Crypto mining stocks up

Despite Bitcoin still being down about 51% this year, it is currently on track for its first monthly gain since March. “Retail traders are definitely surfacing here,” said Ed Moya, senior market analyst at Oanda Corp. “Everyone expected one last major plunge for Bitcoin and now prices are recovering and risk appetite on Wall Street is somewhat improving.”

The return of retail investors to Bitcoin has also drawn them particularly to mining stocks. For instance, Viridi’s $7.4 million Bitcoin Miners ETF saw a 33% bump this past month. This made it one of the top-performing U.S.-listed exchange-traded funds in July. 

Additionally, the ETF of Stronghold Digital Mining surged by over 79% over the same period. It is currently on track for its best month on record.

Last week, trading volume swelled to more than 70% of its total trading volume since it went public last year, with upwards of 100 million shares being traded over the course of a single day.

Source