As bitcoin neared the $70,000 level, crypto-related U.S. stocks jumped across the board.

According to blockchain media outlet Decrypt on Aug. 19 local time, Strategy rose 11.95 percent to $103.58, while Coinbase gained 9.05 percent to $159.47.

Circle rose 9.44 percent to $78.50 and Bitmine climbed 9.68 percent to $20.05. All four set fresh intraday highs, then gave back part of their gains late in the session, but logged their strongest one-day rise this summer. On an intraday basis, Strategy rose as high as $106.90, Coinbase to $165.74, Circle to $81.22 and Bitmine to $20.90.

The direct driver of the surge was bitcoin’s rebound. Bitcoin jumped toward $70,000, and more than $1 billion in bearish positions were liquidated within an hour. Listed crypto-related stocks also soared in step with that move. A U.S. Treasury statement that it will at least double the size of its long-term bond buyback programme from September also supported risk assets overall. The total cryptocurrency market size grew more than 5 percent during the session.

The way each stock responds to bitcoin also differs. Strategy directly holds bitcoin as a corporate treasury asset, while Coinbase’s fee revenue increases as crypto trading volume rises. Circle issues USDC and earns income from managing reserve assets. Bitmine is a company that holds and stakes a large amount of ether, and the market treats it as a stock that is effectively linked to the ether price.

Strategy and Coinbase in particular were seen as gaining more because they are large-cap stocks with high short interest. Coinbase is currently ranked as the stock with the fifth-highest short interest in the financial sector. The rally was interpreted as not only a short squeeze in the crypto derivatives market but also short covering by investors who had shorted the two stocks in the equity market. The outlet said, "Because bitcoin was weak throughout this year, short bets were seen for a while as a safe bet."

The scale of digital assets held by companies is also increasing share-price sensitivity. Strategy holds 840,447 bitcoin and $4.8 billion in cash, based on its latest weekly filing. That has made its share price respond more strongly to bitcoin prices than to company performance. Bitmine is similar. Chairman Tom Lee (톰 리) said this week that Bitmine holds 5.82 million ETH, valued at about $11.4 billion, equivalent to 4.8 percent of ether supply. The outlet described Bitmine as the Nasdaq-listed stock that is "closest to a pure ether bet."

An upcoming policy event is also a variable. President Donald Trump was expected to discuss market structure regulation at the White House that day with top officials from the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission and the Commodity Futures Trading Commission, along with crypto industry executives. Release of minutes from the Federal Reserve’s July meeting was also scheduled for the same day. Both events were cited as factors that could further increase volatility in the related stocks before the close.

Even after the surge, Strategy, Coinbase and Bitmine remain sharply lower on a year-to-date basis. The market is split on whether this rebound marks a trend shift or is limited to short covering within a downtrend. Whether trading volume continues over the next session, and whether bitcoin holds the $70,284 area identified as a resistance level on the day’s chart, are expected to be additional gauges.