Bitcoin Miners, Other Crypto-Related Stocks Are Tumbling Thursday: What's Going On?

Bitcoin mining stocks and other crypto-related names are trading lower Thursday following the approval of several spot Bitcoin ETFs from the Securities and Exchange Commission.

What To Know: After much anticipation, the SEC finally approved 11 ETF applications on Wednesday. However, SEC chair Gary Gensler made it clear that the approval was not an endorsement for bitcoin, which could be contributing to the weakness in crypto-related stocks Thursday.

"While we approved the listing and trading of certain spot Bitcoin ETP shares today, we did not approve or endorse Bitcoin. Investors should remain cautious about the myriad risks associated with Bitcoin and products whose value is tied to crypto," Gensler said.

Crypto-linked stocks may also be moving lower as the ETF approvals now offer a new way for investors to gain exposure to bitcoin via traditional financial tools. Previously, investors looked to bitcoin mining stocks for bitcoin exposure like Marathon Digital Holdings Inc MARA, Riot Platforms Inc RIOT and CleanSpark Inc CLSK.

Marathon Digital was down 12%, Riot Platforms was down 15.1% and CleanSpark was down about 6.3% at the time of writing, according to Benzinga Pro.

The bitcoin ETF approval could also be bad news for exchanges that offer access to investing directly in crypto assets like Coinbase Global Inc COIN and Robinhood Markets Inc HOOD. Coinbase shares were down 6.68% and Robinhood shares were down about 3.5% at publication time.

Read Next: Spot Bitcoin ETF Approval Drives Bitcoin Past $48,000 Mark, ETF Total Trading Volume Peaks $2.3B

Photo: Roy Buri from Pixabay.