Bitcoin Mining Stocks Fall Despite Positive SEC Proof-of-Work Guidance

Shares of some of the top publicly traded Bitcoin mining companies have fallen amid a broader market decline, even after the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission clarified on Thursday that mining operations “do not involve the offer and sale of securities.”

MARA (MARA), CleanSpark (CLSK), and Bitdeer (BTDR) are among the mining companies showing losses so far Friday, though they’ve all rebounded somewhat since earlier in the morning. Riot Platforms (RIOT), meanwhile, is relatively flat on the day after being down earlier Friday.

As of this writing, MARA and BTDR are both down about 1.5%, while CLSK has fallen by 4.5%. None of them showed a significant bounce after the Commission’s guidance circulated on Thursday afternoon, and they’re currently underperforming relative to leading indices like the Nasdaq Composite and S&P 500, are down 0.03% and 0.4% respectively Friday as of this writing.

Other major publicly traded crypto firms are also down on the day, with leading American crypto exchange Coinbase (COIN) dipping 1.4% and top Bitcoin treasury reserve firm Strategy (MSTR) down 1% so far Friday.

Consensus mechanisms like proof-of-stake (PoS) or proof-of-work (PoW)—the ways in which many major blockchains secure their networks and verify transactions—have drawn the ire of the SEC in the past. For example, in 2022, former SEC Chairman Gary Gensler indicated that proof-of-stake assets like Ethereum or Solana could be considered securities.

Thursday’s guidance, which makes specific mention of the proof-of-work consensus mechanism, didn’t do much for the price of the top mined assets like Bitcoin or Dogecoin either. The coins are down 0.1% and 1.1% in the last 24 hours, respectively.  

The last day’s slide continues a poor trend for publicly traded Bitcoin miners, who recently reported a loss of more than $23 billion in collective market cap in a month’s span, according to a JP Morgan report.

The SEC’s latest mining guidance adds to a slew of crypto-positive headlines connected to the Commission, including a handful of dropped investigations and lawsuits, such as those focused on notable companies like Coinbase and Ripple.

Edited by Andrew Hayward