MARA stock slips as bitcoin retreats; Morgan Stanley ETF filing keeps crypto shares in focus

MARA stock slips as bitcoin retreats; Morgan Stanley ETF filing keeps crypto shares in focus

New York, January 6, 2026, 15:30 EST — Regular session

Shares of MARA Holdings fell 1.4% to $10.45 in afternoon trade on Tuesday as bitcoin slid about 2.3%, pulling back from an early-year rebound in the token. The stock has traded between $9.97 and $10.68 so far in the session, with the $10 mark back in focus as a near-term pivot for traders.

The move matters now because bitcoin miners such as MARA often trade as a high-volatility proxy for the cryptocurrency, amplifying swings in sentiment around crypto prices and regulation. Morgan Stanley on Tuesday filed for exchange-traded funds, or ETFs — listed funds that track an asset and trade like a stock — tied to bitcoin and solana, a sign big banks are pushing further into the market. “A bank entering the crypto ETF market adds legitimacy to it, and others could follow,” said Bryan Armour, an ETF analyst at Morningstar. Reuters

Investors are also weighing how quickly crypto-linked balance sheets can turn when prices move. Strategy, the largest corporate holder of bitcoin, said on Monday it had a $17.44 billion unrealized loss on digital assets in the fourth quarter — an accounting hit that reflects a decline in value on holdings that have not been sold. Reuters

Other U.S.-listed crypto names were mixed on Tuesday: Riot Platforms was up 0.3%, while CleanSpark fell 2.4%, Coinbase slipped 1.6% and Strategy dropped 3.9%.

MARA mines bitcoin and has positioned itself as a digital asset compute company, which leaves the stock sensitive to both crypto prices and broader risk appetite. MARA

The next clear catalyst is macro: the U.S. employment report for December 2025 is due on Friday, January 9, at 8:30 a.m. ET, a release that can shift interest-rate expectations and, in turn, demand for risk assets like bitcoin and the shares that track it. Bls

But the setup cuts both ways. If bitcoin’s pullback deepens or mining economics tighten — from higher costs, tougher competition, or adverse policy shifts — miners can come under pressure quickly because revenue and treasury values can move with the token.

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