Crypto Currents: Bitcoin fall drags stocks despite strong earnings

Crypto-exposed equities are facing broad pressure, with miners like Hut 8 and MARA Holdings falling despite reporting record quarterly profits. Meanwhile, Strategy and Coinbase are sliding as bitcoin tests the $100,000 level, and banking giants are raising new capital for crypto infrastructure. Stay up on the crypto news that matters with “Crypto Currents,” daily from The Fly. Join us at 2 PM ET for your essential briefing on the fast-moving world of cryptocurrency on FlyCast radio, Also, subscribe to our YouTube channel for the Crypto Fly By weekly recap.

MINERS AND CRYPTO STOCKS FALL DESPITE STRONG EARNINGS: Bitcoin miners Hut 8 (HUT) and MARA Holdings (MARA) both posted strong Q3 results on Tuesday. MARA’s revenue climbed 92% year-over-year to $252M, reporting $123M in net income. Hut 8’s revenue nearly doubled to $83.5M with $50.6M in profits. Despite the strong performance, both stocks traded lower. Hut 8 shares tumbled nearly 13%, a move investors attributed to the lack of an AI hyperscaler tenant announcement for its River Bend site. Benchmark analyst Mark Palmer, cited by CoinDesk, called the selloff “short-sighted and unwarranted,” maintaining a $78 price target.

The weakness was widespread among crypto-proxy stocks as bitcoin (BTC-USD) neared a six-month low. Strategy (MSTR) sank over 6%. Sequans (SQNS) shares dropped 16.6% after it announced the sale of 970 bitcoin to redeem half of its convertible debt, a move the company called a “strategic asset reallocation”. Crypto exchange Coinbase (COIN) and digital asset firm Galaxy (GLXY) also fell.

ANALYST RATINGS SHIFT AS INSTITUTIONAL DEALS CONTINUE: Citi (C) said the crypto market’s weakness stems from slowing ETF flows, October liquidations, and fading risk appetite. In a report covered by CoinDesk, Citi analysts noted that bitcoin has slipped below its 200-day moving average, a level that could weigh further on demand. Even as markets dip, institutional capital continues to flow. Ripple raised $500M at a $40B valuation in a funding round led by Fortress Investment Group and Citadel Securities, with participation from Galaxy Digital and Brevan Howard. Separately, bitcoin mining firm Canaan (CAN) secured a $72M strategic investment from investors including a division of Brevan Howard and Galaxy Digital.

ANALYST UPDATES: H.C. Wainwright analyst Mike Colonnese reiterated a Buy rating and updated price targets for several miners:

• Cipher Mining (CIFR) to $30 from $17, highlighting its 15-year lease with Amazon Web Services (AMZN).
• CleanSpark (CLSK) to $30 from $25.
• HIVE Digital (HIVE) to $8 from $6.
• Bitfarms (BITF) to $5.50 from $4.00.
• Bitdeer Technologies (BTDR) to $32 from $19.
• Riot Platforms (RIOT) to $26 from $18.
• Core Scientific (CORZ) to $25 from no target and upgrading the stock to a Buy.
• IREN (IREN) to $45 from $36 but downgraded the stock to Sell, noting its $9.7B AI cloud contract with Microsoft (MSFT).

COINBASE HITS REGULATORY SNAG; CHAINLINK TO POWER S&P TOKENIZATION: Coinbase is facing pushback on its application for a federal trust charter. CoinDesk reports that the Independent Community Bankers of America, a bank lobbying group, petitioned the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency to reject the application. On the tokenization front, Dinari is tapping Chainlink (LINK-USD) to provide pricing data for a tokenized version of S&P DJI’s upcoming crypto-focused index.

PRICE ACTION: As of time of writing, bitcoin was trading at $104,023.04, while ether (ETH-USD) was trading at $3,420.86, according to price data from CoinDesk.