Crypto stocks posted mixed performance Monday as capital rotated away from chip and AI infrastructure names amid a broader market sell-off. Bitmine Immersion led gainers with an 11% surge after increasing its ether holdings by nearly 10,000 coins worth approximately $19.4 million, while bitcoin miners uniformly declined with Cipher Mining falling 8% and Core Scientific down 9%. The divergence reflected investor concern over capital expenditure requirements and circular financing in the AI sector, according to analysts at Compass Point and ClearStreet.
Bitmine Immersion Surges 11% on Ether Acquisition
Bitmine Immersion led crypto stock gainers Monday with an 11% advance after the ether accumulator increased its holdings of the cryptocurrency by nearly 10,000 coins worth about $19.4 million at current prices, according to a Monday update. Fellow ETH treasury firm Sharplink Gaming jumped 6%.
Bitcoin treasury pioneer Strategy rose 7% after it added to its cash buffer for a fifth straight week rather than buy bitcoin. Coinbase Global, BitGo and Figure Technology were all up between 4% and 6%.
Circle Acquires IBM's 1,000+ Blockchain Patents
Stablecoin issuer Circle Internet Group gained 2% after announcing it has acquired IBM's portfolio of more than 1,000 blockchain-related patents worldwide. The company did not disclose details of the acquisition.
The sector-wide move came amid a sharp sell-off in oil prices, lower Treasury yields and continued risk-off approach to memory chip stocks and other direct AI plays.
Bitcoin Miners Decline Amid AI Infrastructure Sell-Off
AI-exposed bitcoin miners were uniformly in the red Monday. Cipher Mining led the group with an 8% decline. Hut 8 and Terawulf fell 6% and 4%, respectively. The weakness extended to pure play bitcoin miners, with Riot Platforms losing 5%, Mara Holdings sinking 3% and CleanSpark lower by 4%. Core Scientific, which has mostly pivoted away from bitcoin mining, was down 9%.
Chip and AI infrastructure stocks were under pressure as concern over circular financing spread, along with intensifying competition from Chinese semiconductor companies. The resulting risk repricing accelerated capital rotation into alternative themes, including crypto, said Owen Lau, analyst at ClearStreet.
Nvidia's reported discussions to provide financial support for OpenAI's plan to lease a new AI data center in Ohio underscored the growing role of credit in enabling the AI investment, said Michael Donovan, senior research analyst at Compass Point.
"Today's weakness partly reflects concern around capex requirements and whether companies across the miner-to-AI group may need to raise incremental capital at higher costs to fund their development pipelines," Donovan told CNBC.
Most publicly traded bitcoin miners are increasingly valued by investors as owners of digital infrastructure rather than merely producers of bitcoin, given their power capacity, data center assets and energy contracts. As a result, even pure-play bitcoin miners like Mara Holdings and Riot Platforms can sell off alongside AI-exposed miners. These names often trade together through thematic baskets, sector ETFs and algorithmic positioning that creates broad moves across the whole mining sector.
"Some investors are questioning whether credit appetite for these projects is approaching its limits and which developers can fund their pipelines without meaningful dilution, expensive debt or additional support from customers and strategic partners," Donovan added. "That may create a near-term overhang for the group, even though we continue to view the base compute infrastructure segment of AI as attractive and structurally supply-constrained."
Bitcoin Holds Below $65,000 as Ether Gains 1%
Bitcoin itself was little changed Monday, standing below the $65,000 level. Ether was higher by more than 1% at about $1,900.
FAQ
What caused crypto stocks to rally Monday while bitcoin miners declined?
Crypto stocks rallied Monday as capital rotated away from chip and AI infrastructure names amid a broader market sell-off. Bitmine Immersion led with an 11% gain after acquiring nearly 10,000 ether coins worth $19.4 million, while bitcoin miners uniformly declined with Cipher Mining down 8% and Core Scientific down 9% due to concerns over capital expenditure requirements and circular financing in the AI sector.
What did Circle Internet Group announce Monday?
Circle Internet Group announced Monday it has acquired IBM's portfolio of more than 1,000 blockchain-related patents worldwide. The stablecoin issuer did not disclose details of the acquisition. Circle's stock gained 2% following the announcement.
