Bitcoin climbed above $79,100 early Wednesday, while crypto-mining stocks moved in opposite directions. Riot Platforms gained after reporting an unexpected third-quarter profit and signing a long-term lease for its Texas data center. Several miners expanding into AI and data-center services fell. Investors were also weighing how the U.S. midterm election results could affect crypto oversight and approvals for projects in Texas.
Election results could slow crypto legislation
Election projections available early Wednesday showed Democrats expected to hold 54 Senate seats and control the House by 258 to 177. Changes in committee leadership and priorities in both chambers could shape the debate over digital-asset market-structure legislation and related oversight.
The Digital Asset Market Clarity Act, or Clarity Act, failed to advance in the Senate on Sept. 15, with 49 votes in favor and 50 against. In an Oct. 28 analysis, 21Shares U.S. Chief Legal Officer Wei Wayne Miao said the midterms alone were unlikely to substantially change the digital-asset regulatory framework. But Democratic control of the House could lead to more oversight hearings and stronger consumer-protection provisions in a market-structure bill, potentially delaying its progress.
Congress has limited time to consider the Clarity Act before recessing on Jan. 3. Lawmakers still need to address government funding, defense authorization, policy extensions and several nominations. TD Cowen analyst Jaret Seiberg also said increased oversight could slow crypto legislation, adding that investigations into politicians’ crypto businesses could make agreement harder to reach. VanEck Head of Digital Assets Research Matthew Sigel has previously said that most regulatory disputes in Washington have limited direct impact on bitcoin.
Miao also said the Securities and Exchange Commission may continue shifting away from enforcement-led oversight toward interpretive guidance and exemptions. Changes in SEC leadership or its commissioners could have a more direct effect on the agency’s regulatory work than the election results, he said, with the timing dependent on confirmations and departures.
Texas data-center uncertainty weighs on miners’ valuations
Bernstein analyst Gautam Chhugani cut price targets on several AI- and data-center-related companies after the election results. More than half of the power portfolios at some miners pivoting to AI infrastructure are concentrated in Texas, he noted. The outcome of the Texas governor’s race shifted expectations for data-center approval timelines. Bernstein said project delays could persist and related legislation may remain stalled.
Bernstein lowered its targets for Cipher Mining, TeraWulf, CleanSpark, MARA Holdings, IREN, Core Scientific and Riot Platforms. Keefe Bruyette downgraded Cipher Mining and CleanSpark from “Outperform” to “Market Perform,” citing regulatory uncertainty that could affect the timing of data-center leases and the conversion of Texas project pipelines into formal agreements.
Bitcoin rises as crypto-platform shares gain
Bitcoin broke above $79,100 early Wednesday, up more than 2% over 24 hours, according to CoinMarketCap data. Shares of crypto platforms and related companies were broadly higher: Coinbase and Bullish each gained more than 2%, Robinhood was up nearly 2%, Gemini Space Station rose almost 8%, and bitcoin holder Strategy gained more than 6%.
Riot’s 15-year lease lifts shares as other miners slide
Riot Platforms shares rose as much as 13% in early trading. The company posted an unexpected profit and revenue above market expectations. It mined 1,637 bitcoin in the quarter, up from 1,406 a year earlier.
Riot also signed a 15-year lease with an unnamed frontier AI lab covering all 910 megawatts of IT capacity at its Corsicana data-center campus in Texas. The agreement is expected to generate about $28 billion in revenue over its initial term, bringing the company’s disclosed long-term contracted revenue to $28 billion.
Other mining and data-center stocks were weaker. MARA’s early decline narrowed to less than 3%, while TeraWulf’s loss eased from about 3% to 1%. IREN fell 9%, Core Scientific dropped 10% and CleanSpark lost about 12%. Hut 8 and Cipher Digital each declined more than 17%. The split reflected investors’ focus on both bitcoin’s rise and the pace of miners’ AI projects, lease signings and regulatory approvals.