Publicly traded crypto firms have experienced significant gains this year, with Bitcoin reaching a new year-high of over $42,000 on December 4. Crypto exchange Coinbase closed the day with a 5.5% gain, up 320% from its price at the start of the year. Bitcoin miners Marathon Digital and Riot Platforms also closed the day with over 8% gains, recording 337% and 345% year-to-date gains, respectively.

Crypto investment firm Galaxy Digital Holdings posted a daily gain of nearly 12% and is up 155% year-to-date. MicroStrategy, which holds the largest amount of Bitcoin among public companies, saw a daily gain of over 6.5% and a year-to-date rise of 288%.

These gains have occurred despite a mixed performance in the wider North American stock market on December 4. Large-cap tech stocks like Microsoft, Apple, Google, and Nvidia all experienced declines.

Analysts suggest that the rally in crypto-related stocks is linked to Bitcoin’s remarkable gains in recent months. As the price of Bitcoin rises, investors see crypto stocks as a way to gain exposure to the cryptocurrency market. The approval of spot Bitcoin exchange-traded funds in the United States is seen as a key factor that could further drive the rally.

Experts also point to other factors supporting Bitcoin, including possible U.S. Federal Reserve rate cuts next year and the upcoming Bitcoin halving scheduled for April. The anticipation of these events, coupled with the potential approval of ETFs, has created a sense of optimism in the crypto space.

Crypto stocks are viewed as “exchange-listed proxies” for investors to indirectly invest in the crypto market. The increasing interest and volume in the cryptocurrency market is expected to lead to higher earnings and profits for crypto exchanges and similar businesses.