Cryptocurrencies Extend Gains as Miners Boost Bitcoin Lending

The biggest cryptocurrencies maintained their momentum from the past week ahead of Monday's US stock market open as miners increased their lending of yield-earning bitcoin (BTC) to cover their rising operating costs. Bitcoin was up 1.2%, trading at about $99,463 before the bell, bringing its seven-day gain to more than 6%. Ethereum (ETH) increased over 0.1% to trade at $3,650, extending the increase in the same period to roughly 6.8%. The global crypto market cap was up 1.6% to $3.53 trillion. The CoinDesk Market Index rose more than 1.1% in the past 24 hours. MARA Holdings on Friday said it loaned 7,377 bitcoin as of Dec. 31 to third parties to generate yield, representing approximately 16% of its total reserves. Robert Samuels, the miner's vice president of Investor Relations, wrote on social media platform X that "the long-term objective is to generate sufficient yield to offset operating expenses."The miner also reported surpassing the 50 exahash per second (EH/s) production threshold, ending the year with 53 EH/s of energized hash rate. Industry production recently topped the all-time high of 1,000 EH/s, more than doubling its year-ago level. US-traded spot-price bitcoin exchange-traded funds on Friday saw total net inflows of $908.1 million, according to data compiled by research platform SoSoValue. The group of nine ethereum ETFs saw total net inflows of $58.8 million. Monday's economic calendar has the December purchasing managers' index composite final report from S&P Global (SPGI) at 9:45 am ET, followed by the factory orders report for November at 10 am. The Job Openings and Labor Turnover Survey for November posts on Tuesday, followed by the ADP Employment report for December on Wednesday. The government's nonfarm payroll data for December is scheduled to be released on Friday. Minutes from the Federal Reserve's latest monetary policy meeting are scheduled to be released on Wednesday. US markets will close on Thursday to mourn the passing of former President Jimmy Carter.