Bitcoin's 23% rally lifts beaten-down miners 67% past AI stocks

Bitcoin's strongest week in more than three years has revived the mining-equity trade, with Canaan, American Bitcoin and Cango jumping as much as 67%.

Bitcoin gained 23.6% last week, its second-best weekly performance since February 2021, lifting beaten-down mining stocks as much as 67%.

The move came after Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent announced an expansion of Treasury bond buybacks, pushing yields and the dollar lower and supporting risk assets, according to CoinDesk data. U.S.-listed spot bitcoin ETFs attracted $1.92 billion of net inflows during the week, their largest weekly total since Oct. 10.

Bitcoin rose from around $62,000 to as high as $79,500 before settling near $77,000, and touched $80,000 for the first time since May. Ether climbed 31.3% to above $2,520, while ether ETFs recorded $697 million of inflows. A record $2.7 billion in bearish crypto bets were wiped out in a single 24-hour window, the largest short squeeze on record.

The rally carried bitcoin above its 200-day simple moving average, with the U.S. Dollar Index falling to 98.9 and gold climbing back above $4,600. The next test is whether bitcoin holds above $80,000, a level that would confirm the breakout and extend the mining-equity bid.

Miners Outpace the AI Pivot

Canaan, American Bitcoin and Cango jumped as much as 67% as the rally showed BTC exposure can still drive mining equities despite the industry's push into AI data centers. The gains contrast with the divergence seen earlier in the week, when CleanSpark fell 6% to $11.84 and MARA Holdings held flat at $11.14 even as bitcoin climbed 7% to $77,740.82, as investors repriced the miner-to-AI-landlord pivot.

Riot Platforms struck a $9.1 billion, 20-year computing deal with Anthropic, leasing 191 megawatts at its Rockdale, Texas campus, but the shares gave back most of a 20% initial gain. Strategy, which holds 840,447 bitcoin acquired at an average of $75,385, raised over $2 billion selling shares last week without touching its holdings.

Debasement Trade Returns

Talk of the debasement trade is returning as investors move into scarce assets to protect against the erosion of fiat purchasing power. Gold has gained 15% over the past month, while the dollar index slipped below its 200-day average of 99.1. The rally has set up a potential golden cross, which occurs when the 50-day moving average crosses above the 200-day average, a widely followed bullish momentum signal.

The mining-equity bid now hinges on whether bitcoin can hold above $80,000 through the U.S. session. A durable move higher would repair the balance sheets of treasury vehicles like Strive, which holds 20,246 bitcoin at an average cost of $94,345, and could accelerate expansion plans across the sector. A reversal would test the funding mechanic that keeps these equities trading above their coin NAV.

This article is for informational purposes only and does not constitute investment advice.