Crypto-related stocks outpaced bitcoin on US Election Day, November 3, as Coinbase, Strategy, Riot Platforms and MARA Holdings climbed 5.4% to 13.3% in morning trading. Bitcoin was up just 0.3% over the previous 24 hours. The gains recovered only part of the ground the four stocks had lost over the prior two sessions, when they fell a combined 8% to 14%.
Riot leads gains among crypto-linked stocks
Shortly before 11 a.m. Eastern time, Riot Platforms was up 13.3%, the biggest gain among the four companies. Coinbase rose 8.6%, MARA Holdings added 7.6% and Strategy gained 5.4%.
The companies are closely tied to the bitcoin market, but their share prices also respond to business-specific developments and broader equity-market moves. As a result, their short-term performance can diverge sharply from bitcoin's.
Riot, a bitcoin miner rather than a trading platform, posted the day's largest increase. That suggests the move was not driven solely by news related to exchanges; a rebound after recent losses and a recovery in technology shares also formed part of the backdrop.
Nasdaq recovery and CFTC action shape the backdrop
The day's advance coincided with a rebound after two sessions of losses, a recovery in technology stocks and the Commodity Futures Trading Commission's approval of perpetual futures tied to individual US stocks.
The Nasdaq Composite rose about 1%, after falling a cumulative 3.9% over the previous two trading sessions. The technology-stock recovery provided a broader lift for risk assets, though the available market data do not establish how much it contributed to each crypto stock's gain.
The CFTC action covered perpetual contracts tracking individual US stocks, which have no expiration date. Coinbase's derivatives unit had previously applied to list such contracts, making the regulatory move directly relevant to its plans. But the other three stocks also advanced, with Riot leading the group, so the action alone does not explain the sector-wide move.
Gains recover only part of earlier losses
Despite outperforming bitcoin on the day, the four stocks were still coming off losses of 8% to 14% over the previous two sessions. The advance represented a partial recovery, not a full reversal. Bitcoin's 0.3% gain over the same 24-hour period also underscored that crypto-related equities and the underlying asset do not always move in step over short periods.
The trading showed how Election Day moves in the group coincided with company-related news, technology-stock performance and a rebound after recent declines. The stock gains were intraday figures as of the morning in Eastern time, while bitcoin's change covered 24 hours, so the two measures use different time frames.