Crypto Stocks Today in the US Market: COIN, MSTR, HUT and Bitcoin Miner Shares Move Higher at Midday (Dec. 18, 2025)

At 12:00 p.m. ET on Thursday, Dec. 18, 2025, crypto-related stocks in the U.S. are mostly trading higher even as Bitcoin and Ethereum drift lower, underscoring a theme that’s defined much of December: company-specific catalysts and “AI pivot” narratives can briefly overpower the day-to-day tape of crypto prices.

As of roughly 12:03 p.m. ET, Bitcoin (BTC) is around $86,130 (-0.7%) and Ethereum (ETH) is about $2,841 (-0.7%)after choppy trading that took BTC as high as ~$89,230 and as low as ~$85,355 earlier in the session.

What’s powering the stock moves: a mix of macro relief (a softer U.S. inflation print), platform expansion plans(Coinbase and prediction markets / stock trading), and miners repositioning as AI infrastructure plays (highlighted by Hut 8’s high-profile data-center lease narrative).

Midday snapshot: how top US-listed crypto stocks are trading

Prices below are as of ~12:03 p.m. ET.

Coinbase (COIN): $247.63 (+1.4%)
Strategy / MicroStrategy (MSTR): $163.51 (+2.0%)
Robinhood (HOOD): $119.55 (+3.2%)
Hut 8 (HUT): $42.18 (+5.0%)
Riot Platforms (RIOT): $13.38 (+3.2%)
CleanSpark (CLSK): $11.55 (+0.6%)
Marathon Digital (MARA): $9.91 (-0.3%)
Cipher Mining (CIFR): $15.14 (+5.2%)
TeraWulf (WULF): $11.71 (+1.2%)
Core Scientific (CORZ): $14.48 (+6.7%)
IREN (IREN): $36.03 (+6.7%)
Bitdeer (BTDR): $10.27 (+5.2%)

The split is telling: mining/infrastructure names tied to “AI compute” optionality (HUT, IREN, CORZ, CIFR) are among the stronger gainers, while pure BTC beta remains visible in choppier names like MARA.

Why crypto stocks are rising while Bitcoin slips: the Dec. 18 setup

1) Softer inflation data boosts risk appetite — with a big asterisk

U.S. consumer inflation rose 2.7% year over year in November, below what economists expected, with core CPI at 2.6%. But the report comes with unusual caveats: a 43-day government shutdown disrupted data collection, and the Bureau of Labor Statistics did not publish monthly CPI changes (and even canceled the October CPI release), prompting economists to warn the apparent improvement may be “technical” and hard to interpret. ^[1]

Markets still treated the release as risk-friendly—supportive for high-beta areas like crypto-linked equities—while investors weigh what the Federal Reserve does next after its recent rate cut to the 3.50%–3.75% range (per Reuters). ^[2]

2) Crypto prices remain fragile — but equities can trade their own story

Even with the broader stock market buoyed by macro news, crypto itself is not acting like a clean “risk-on” asset today. By midday, BTC is lower on the session and ETH is down as well.

That divergence is one reason you’re seeing equities outperform tokens: investors are selectively rewarding business-model updates and non-crypto revenue narratives.

Coinbase (COIN) and Robinhood (HOOD): “everything exchange” and prediction markets go mainstream

Coinbase is back in focus after announcing a broad push beyond spot crypto trading—moving toward stock trading and prediction markets—an expansion that puts it in more direct competition with Robinhood and other retail platforms. ^[3]

Key points driving today’s discussion:

Coinbase plans stock trading and prediction markets access via a partnership approach (including Kalshi), with a longer-term ambition to become a broader “everything exchange.” ^[4]
The move fits a bigger industry trend: exchanges and brokers are racing to offer more “all-in-one” trading products as traditional crypto volumes remain uneven. ^[5]

Coinbase adds a political heavyweight in London

Separately today, Coinbase said George Osborne—the former UK finance minister—will run its internal advisory council, a step the company framed as part of expanding policy engagement outside the U.S., including the UK and EU. ^[6]

This matters for COIN’s equity narrative because regulation is increasingly treated as a product roadmap unlock: clearer frameworks can widen what platforms can list, how they custody assets, and what they can offer institutions.

Analyst forecast roundup on COIN and HOOD: targets spread wide, sentiment mixed

While product expansion headlines are bullish-sounding, today’s analyst commentary shows a market that’s still cautious on near-term monetization:

Mizuho stayed Neutral and cut its COIN price target to $280 (from $320), citing lower Bitcoin prices and softer Q4 trading volumes, while also warning that equities trading traction is unproven and prediction markets may commoditize. ^[7]
Goldman Sachs reiterated Neutral on COIN with a $294 target after Coinbase’s product updates. ^[8]
Other firms highlighted in today’s coverage include Deutsche Bank initiating Buy with a $340 target, BTIGreiterating Buy with $420, and Citizens citing a $440 target (Market Outperform). ^[9]

For Robinhood, Mizuho maintained an Outperform view with a $172 target, pointing to momentum in prediction markets and projecting a sizable run-rate for that segment. ^[10]

What to watch next: the market is likely to demand proof that these features don’t simply reshuffle existing customer dollars (crypto → prediction markets) but actually bring in incremental activity and assets—the core debate flagged in today’s analyst notes. ^[11]

Strategy (MSTR): Bitcoin proxy mechanics are back under scrutiny

Strategy remains one of the most direct “levered Bitcoin” proxies in U.S. equities, and today’s tone is less about hype and more about financing math.

A prominent analysis circulating today notes:

Strategy has spent $1.94 billion buying 20,000+ BTC over the past two weeks, but MSTR’s buying power is getting constrained as the stock falls. ^[12]
Continued BTC accumulation may increasingly depend on more expensive funding, including preferred stock with 11%–12% interest costs, according to the same analysis. ^[13]
The company also built a $1.4 billion cash reserve, which some investors interpret as a signal that purchase pace could slow unless market conditions improve. ^[14]

Translation for traders: when MSTR is rising on a day BTC is down, it’s often because investors are trading capital-structure expectations and relative-value positioning—not just the spot price of Bitcoin.

Bitcoin miners and “AI infrastructure” stocks: Hut 8 steals the spotlight

Hut 8 (HUT): the AI data-center lease narrative is doing real work today

Hut 8 is one of the biggest movers in the crypto-stock universe at midday, and today’s coverage is explicit about why: Wall Street increasingly views certain miners as power + data-center operators rather than pure hash-rate businesses.

A Reuters market note highlighted:

HUT rising in premarket after announcing its first high-performance computing data-center lease, with Rosenblatt calling it a potential “game-changer” that vaults the company up the “miner-turned-HPC hosting” leaderboard. ^[15]
Reuters also pointed to broader Street optimism: 15 analysts rate the stock “buy” on average, with a median price target of $60 (LSEG data cited by Reuters). ^[16]

This follows the company’s previously announced AI infrastructure partnership/lease narrative (widely reported this week), which has become a template for how investors want miners to diversify.

Miners’ tape today: the market is rewarding “optional AI revenue”

Even with BTC lower, multiple mining/infrastructure names are up solidly at midday:

IREN +6.7%, CORZ +6.7%, CIFR +5.2%, BTDR +5.2%

That pattern fits the narrative from recent industry reporting: investors increasingly favor miners that can monetize power capacity and facilities beyond Bitcoin mining, especially as the economics of mining tighten when token prices weaken. ^[17]

CleanSpark (CLSK): valuation worries collide with the AI pivot theme

CleanSpark is modestly higher at midday, but one of today’s most-circulated write-ups on the name is notably cautious.

A Nasdaq.com/Zacks analysis published this morning argues:

CLSK looks expensive at a forward P/E multiple well above its industry average,
its business remains highly sensitive to Bitcoin volatility,
and its early-stage expansion into AI/HPC faces intensifying competition from peers such as APLD, IREN, and CIFR. ^[18]

The same analysis also pointed to downward earnings estimate revisions and “bearish” technical signals as near-term headwinds. ^[19]

Bottom line: even in a tape that’s rewarding AI adjacency, valuation and execution risk are still separating winners from laggards.

The regulatory backdrop: 2025 wins, 2026 uncertainty

One reason COIN and other U.S.-listed crypto stocks can rally on company news despite shaky token prices is that the policy backdrop has improved materially in 2025—but investors are also bracing for what might not get done next year.

Reuters reports that the industry’s 2025 tailwinds include:

the SEC reversing certain crypto accounting guidance and dropping some earlier lawsuits,
and the passage of a federal law creating rules for dollar-pegged tokens (stablecoins), among other changes. ^[20]

But Reuters also notes that broader “market structure” legislation remains stalled in the Senate and that the industry is looking to potential SEC regulatory relief (an “innovation exemption”) in early 2026, creating a mix of optimism and uncertainty heading into next year. ^[21]

What to watch into the close

Three near-term signals are likely to drive the rest of the day for crypto stocks:

Bitcoin’s $85K–$90K range behavior: BTC has already traded down near ~$85,355 and up near ~$89,230 today; miners and MSTR tend to react quickly to any renewed break in either direction.
Follow-through on “platform expansion”: COIN and HOOD are trading as product stories right now. Any added details on rollout timing, eligible user scope, pricing, or regulatory guardrails can move the stocks disproportionately. ^[22]
AI data-center credibility for miner names: The market is increasingly rewarding miners that show tangible contracts/leases and institutional-grade counterparties—Hut 8 is the clearest example on today’s tape. ^[23]

This article is for informational purposes and reflects market conditions around midday ET on Dec. 18, 2025. Prices and headlines can change quickly.

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