Bitcoin has climbed roughly 22% since Aug. 17 while crypto exchanges and stablecoin issuers rally alongside it, but bitcoin miners are being left behind. Only one tracked miner has outperformed bitcoin, and the rest carry a median return of just 1.8% since the bull run began.
Crypto stocks have moved in lockstep with bitcoin since the start of the bull market — except for the miners. Bitcoin's price has risen roughly 22% since Aug. 17, and crypto exchanges and stablecoin issuers have traded at parity with that move. Bitcoin miners have not.
Miners underperform across the board
Among tracked companies, only Canaan has outperformed bitcoin, the mining-rig manufacturer whose stock has ticked up 1.49%. The remaining 10 bitcoin miners and mining-adjacent companies have underperformed, with a median return of only 1.8% since the rally began. Core Scientific and Terawulf are among the worst offenders, underperforming bitcoin by 27% and 24%, respectively.
An AI pivot split miners' attention
Several miners pivoted toward high-performance computing infrastructure for AI data centers, a shift that has supported their stock prices during the crypto bear market but has since divided investor attention. Funding that pivot required selling coin: public miners offloaded between 28,000 and 32,000 BTC during the first half of 2026, a stash worth approximately $1.78 billion at the time, with miners collectively committing over $70 billion to AI and HPC. Some miners have since begun borrowing against their remaining bitcoin reserves rather than liquidating them, a shift that signals growing confidence in further upside.
Exchanges, stablecoins and ETFs captured the rally instead
Spot bitcoin ETFs attracted roughly $3.8 billion in net inflows over three weeks through early September, including a single-day surge of $731 million. Meanwhile, stablecoin allocations within crypto portfolios dropped 22% during the rally period. The total crypto market cap swelled to nearly $2.7 trillion. US Treasury liquidity initiatives and an overarching short squeeze also amplified the move, according to Crypto Briefing.
Exchanges and stablecoin issuers scale directly with trading activity, so they captured the rally almost immediately. Miners, locked into long-term infrastructure commitments and depleted bitcoin treasuries, are structurally slower to benefit.
Sources: The Block, Crypto Briefing
Trading involves risk.
Risk Disclaimer
