Crypto Currents: Miners surge after Nvidia earnings beat

Bitcoin miners are rallying on the heels of Nvidia’s strong earnings, while JPMorgan sounds the alarm on Strategy’s index risks. Meanwhile, BlackRock takes a step toward staked ether, and Ark Invest goes bargain hunting. 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.

NVIDIA RESULTS LIFT AI-LINKED MINERS: Artificial intelligence and high-performance computing stocks are surging after Nvidia (NVDA) reported a solid Q3 ‘beat and raise.’ According to CoinDesk, the results lifted bitcoin (BTC-USD) miners pivoting to AI, with IREN (IREN), Cipher Mining (CIFR), and Hive Digital (HIVE) all posting significant gains. Hut 8 (HUT) also rallied on the news. The “everything rally” extended to broader tech, with BeInCrypto reporting gains for chipmakers AMD (AMD), Micron (MU), Broadcom (AVGO), and Intel (INTC). Major tech firms like Apple (AAPL), Microsoft (MSFT), Alphabet (GOOGL), Amazon (AMZN), and Meta (META) also traded higher. The risk-on sentiment helped bitcoin reclaim the $91,000 level.

JPMORGAN WARNS ON STRATEGY INDEX RISK: JPMorgan (JPM) has issued a warning that Strategy (MSTR) could face selling pressure if MSCI (MSCI) decides to remove the company from its equity indices. Analysts at the bank believe Strategy’s recent underperformance relative to bitcoin reflects anxiety over the potential exclusion, which could trigger billions in passive outflows.

BLACKROCK REGISTERS STAKED ETHER TRUST: BlackRock (BLK) has registered the “iShares Staked Ethereum Trust” in Delaware, signaling intent to launch a yield-bearing product, according to Bloomberg ETF analyst Eric Balchunas. This move positions the asset manager to compete for a spot ether (ETH-USD) ETF that includes staking rewards, a feature regulators forced issuers to strip from the first wave of products launched earlier this year.

B. RILEY CUTS TARGETS ON CRYPTO TREASURIES: Analysts at B. Riley slashed price targets across digital asset treasury companies, citing valuation compression. The firm cut BitMine Immersion Technologies (BMNR) to $47 from $90 and halved the target for Kindly MD (NAKA) to $1. The bank also trimmed targets for Sequans (SQNS) and FG Nexus (FGNX) but maintained Buy ratings across the group, arguing the sector is undervalued relative to NAV.

ARK INVEST BUYS THE DIP, AGAIN: Cathie Wood’s Ark Invest purchased approximately $40M in crypto-related stocks as the market slid on Wednesday. The firm added shares of exchange operator Bullish (BLSH), stablecoin issuer Circle Internet (CRCL), and BitMine Immersion Technologies to its ETFs, utilizing the downturn to rebalance its holdings.

KINDLY MD REPORTS LOSS; ABU DHABI BUYS BITCOIN ETF: Kindly MD reported a Q3 net loss of $86M, driven by non-cash charges and unrealized losses on its bitcoin holdings. Meanwhile, the Abu Dhabi Investment Council tripled its investment in BlackRock’s bitcoin ETF to over $500M in Q3. Elsewhere, Coinbase (COIN) is expanding in Brazil. The exchange will launch its “DeFi Mullet” platform in Brazil to integrate decentralized trading within its app.

PRICE ACTION: As of time of writing, bitcoin was trading at $88,670.76, while ether was trading at $2,887.51, according to price data from CoinDesk.