** Shares of cryptocurrency and blockchain-related firms rise on Weds, tracking bitcoin BTC= price to a two-month high
** Bitcoin, world's largest cryptocurrency, up 2.6% at $96,483.94. Ether ETH= rises 4.2% to about a one-month high of $3,337.99
** Shares of crypto exchange Coinbase Global COIN.O gain 2.3% on the session
** BTC stockpiler Strategy MSTR.O, formerly known as MicroStrategy, surges >6%
** Crypto miners rise: Riot Platforms RIOT.O 2.8%, Mara Holdings MARA.O 1%, Bit Digital BTBT.O nearly 2%
** BTC miner CleanSpark CLSK.O jumps 6% after
announcing
Texas data center expansion
** Ether-linked stocks climb: BTCS BTCS.O 2%,
Bitmine Immersion Technologies BMNR.A 8% and Sharplink Gaming SBET.O about 3%
** ProShares Bitcoin Strategy ETF BITO.P and iShares Bitcoin Trust ETF IBIT.O both up >2%; iShares Ethereum Trust ETF ETHA.O leaps >4%
** With moves on the session, BTC up about 10% and ETH up about 12% so far this year
(Lance Tupper is a Reuters market analyst. The views expressed are his own)
((lance.tupper@tr.com ; 1-646-279-6380))