Crypto-exposed stocks spike as bitcoin climbs back above $26K threshold

Bitcoin ( BTC-USD ) has busted through the $26K threshold in Friday morning trading to reach the highest level seen since June 2022, helping push up many cryptocurrency-exposed stocks during the premarket session. Despite a risk-off day in the broader stock market, the token jumped 7.5% to $26.76K as of shortly before 9:30 a.m. ET, extending its gains for the second straight session. That coincided with ethereum's ( ETH-USD ) 5% gain to $1.74K. Overall, a slew of major cryptos caught a bid with the global crypto market cap rising 5.9% to $1.14T, according to CoinMarketCap data . Call it a comeback? Some may suggest bitcoin's ( BTC-USD ) ongoing rally is the start of a new bull run, while others reckon it's nothing more than a bull trap whereby traders buy the token believing its price will keep rising, when in fact, it will continue to slump. Only time will tell. Nonetheless, with bitcoin ( BTC-USD ) in risk-on mode, a barrage of crypto-related stocks, including Riot Platforms ( RIOT ), +7.9% , Marathon Digital ( MARA ), +8.8% , and MicroStrategy ( MSTR ), +5.5% , dominated premarket; here's a full list . SA contributor Pacifica Yield thinks the performance of bitcoin and thus RIOT this year will depend on the direction of inflation and interest rates.