Bitcoin’s 23% rally sends beaten-down miners soaring past AI stocks

Bitcoin’s August rally has revived some of the mining sector’s most beaten-down stocks, reversing a trend that has favored miners pivoting toward artificial intelligence and high-performance computing and suggesting investors may once again be rewarding direct exposure to Bitcoin.In its latest Miner Weekly newsletter, BlocksBridge Consulting reported that Bitcoin’s (BTC) roughly 23% rally over the past week outpaced most AI-linked infrastructure stocks.Three beaten-down Bitcoin mining companies — Canaan, American Bitcoin and Cango — gained between 41% and 67%. By comparison, CoreWeave rose about 21%, Nebius gained 17% and IREN advanced 15%, while some miners with heavier exposure to AI and HPC were flat or declined.Blocksbridge pointed to three catalysts behind Bitcoin’s rally. The first was the US Treasury Department’s Aug. 19 announcement that it would at least double the size of its liquidity-support buybacks for longer-dated Treasury securities.The second was renewed regulatory optimism following a White House meeting with crypto executives, where US President Donald Trump urged Congress to pass a “fair version” of the CLARITY Act, a stalled crypto market structure bill.The third was a sharp short squeeze following Bitcoin’s breakout, with more than $1.6 billion in crypto positions liquidated over 24 hours.Bitcoin mining-focused stocks outperformed companies that pivoted toward AI and HPC. Source: Miner WeeklyRelated: Strategy’s $66B Bitcoin machine hinges on capital markets, not BTC price: ReportBTC price still drives miners despite AI pivotBlocksBridge’s findings echoed earlier Cointelegraph reporting that Bitcoin’s rally had lifted crypto-related stocks, including Bitcoin miners. The gains underscore how strongly Bitcoin’s price can still influence mining stocks, even as many miners have increasingly shifted their focus toward AI and HPC infrastructure in recent years.Separate recent BlocksBridge analysis found that publicly traded Bitcoin miners have invested roughly $15 in AI data centers for every $1 in AI-related revenue generated. Nine public miners generated $341.2 million in AI and HPC revenue so far in 2026, compared with $5.11 billion in capital expenditures on the technology.