Crypto Miners Surge on OpenAI Deal as Galaxy Debuts and Inflation Rises

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Crypto Miners Soar on OpenAI-CoreWeave Deal; Galaxy Jumps in Nasdaq Debut

What to know:

  • CoreWeave’s $4 billion deal with OpenAI lifted crypto-adjacent data center stocks by as much as 20%.
  • Galaxy Digital advanced 8% on its Nasdaq debut; Coinbase rebounded after sell-off over data leak and SEC probe.
  • Inflation expectations hit multi-decade highs, which may temper hopes of Fed rate cuts.

On Friday, while cryptocurrencies generally held steady with Bitcoin hovering near $104,000, it was the stocks associated with cryptocurrency that really stood out.

Companies specializing in cryptocurrency mining and data centers, like Cipher Mining (CIFR), Hive Digital (HIVE), Hut 8 (HUT) and TeraWulf (WULF), experienced gains of between 10% and 20%, fueled by optimism regarding the demand for artificial intelligence (AI) computing. This surge was triggered by CoreWeave (CRWV) securing a $4 billion deal with OpenAI, the developer of ChatGPT. Given their data center assets, these firms are frequently viewed as indicators for investments in AI-related infrastructure.

For its part, CoreWeave soared more than 26%.

Galaxy Digital’s stock soared 8% during its initial trading day on the Nasdaq, signifying the highly anticipated entrance into the US market for this firm. Previously, it was only traded on the Toronto Stock Exchange. This company specializes in managing cryptocurrency investments, trading digital assets, and also operates a data center business.

After experiencing a significant fall of 9%, cryptocurrency trading platform Coinbase (COIN) bounced back on Thursday, following news about a customer data breach and continuous inquiry from the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

The DeFi Development company, which specializes in real estate technology and manages its funds using Solana, experienced a 45% increase, reaching new peak levels following the announcement of partnering with memecoin BONK for validator operations and boosting its holdings of SOL tokens.

Currently, Bitcoin is maintaining its position slightly above $104,000, showing an increase of 1.3% over the past day. In contrast, Ether saw a rise of 2.3%, reaching $2,580. The overall CoinDesk 20 Index remained stable, with XRP performing poorly due to a U.S. judge’s rejection of the proposed settlement between Ripple and the SEC.

Inflation expectations through the roof

As a researcher, I’ve recently analyzed data from the University of Michigan’s latest inflation survey. The findings suggest that consumers anticipate a significant increase in inflation over the next year, with expectations rising to 7.3%. This is the highest predicted annual inflation rate since the 1980s. Additionally, the projected inflation for the five to ten-year horizon has also increased, reaching 4.6%, marking a multi-decade high in this timeframe as well.

In simpler terms, Louis Navellier, the Chief Investment Officer at Navellier, stated in a market analysis that it’s almost unbelievably or inconceivably high.

As an analyst, I observed a significant disparity in economic perspectives based on political leanings, particularly between Republicans and their counterparts. The Republican outlook on inflation appeared to be more muted compared to others. Given this divergence, traditional markets exhibited a nonchalant response towards the data release, with major U.S. stock indices steadily increasing as the trading session progressed.

On the other hand, increasing anticipations about inflation could indirectly affect markets by making it less likely for Federal Reserve policymakers to lower interest rates within the coming months.

The issue at hand involves the Federal Reserve taking note of consumer opinions regarding inflation rates. Given their worries about inflation that could be sparked by tariffs, this information might provide them with additional motivation to delay any future actions. According to Navellier, this is his perspective.

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2025-05-16 23:28