Coinbase and Marathon Digital Holdings Shares Surge on Rising Bitcoin Value

Bitcoin experienced a remarkable surge in February

, increasing in value by more than 40% since the start of the month, marking

unprecedented climbs reminiscent of those in 2020

. Despite this, investing directly in the cryptocurrency was not the most profitable strategy; both the trading platform Coinbase and mining company Marathon Digital Holdings saw even more substantial gains, with increases of 59% and 45%, respectively.

These companies are benefiting from

a revitalized excitement around bitcoin

, which has lifted bitcoin-related stocks as well.

Following a substantial run in 2023, bitcoin’s value dipped below $40,000 late last month. The market was adjusting in response to

the U.S. SEC’s approval of the first spot Bitcoin ETFs

. Nevertheless, the cryptocurrency soon rallied stridently. By early February, it was trading at $47,000 and continued to ascend past $50,000. By midweek, it had reached $57,000 and then soared over $61,000 by the end of that week.

Additionally, the upcoming

“halving” event

is expected to decrease the bitcoin rewards for mining, potentially leading to a price increase as historically observed with heightened interest.

The surge in enthusiasm led to technical issues on Wednesday when

Coinbase experienced a service outage

, affecting login and transaction processes. In the context of

recent issues with bitcoin exchanges

, Coinbase ensured its users that their funds remained secure.

ETFs Make a Significant Impact

Beyond just bitcoin-focused businesses, broader financial players are also seeing the impacts of increased bitcoin interest. On a recent earnings call, the Chicago Mercantile Exchange Group noted that its crypto futures trading had quadrupled since autumn. This uptick is in anticipation of heightened activity in bitcoin-based ETFs.

The Robinhood trading platform also observed that a significant portion of its bitcoin investors were utilizing ETFs to gain exposure to the cryptocurrency. Robinhood’s CFO Jason Warnick pointed out that these were predominantly newcomers to the market, demonstrating the broadening appeal of bitcoin.

“We’re quite happy to provide diverse options for our customers,” he mentioned. “The presence of bitcoin ETFs not only stimulates market interest in cryptocurrency but also brings in additional liquidity. Overall, we view the advent of bitcoin ETFs very positively.”