U.S. bitcoin mining and data center operators Hut 8 and Core Scientific are set to join the Russell 3000 Index, which tracks the largest 3,000 U.S.-domiciled public companies by market cap.
According to the annual reconstitution released on June 21 by the index provider FTSE Russell, a subsidiary of the London Stock Exchange Group, Hut 8 and Core Scientific are among the preliminary additions to the Russell 3000 Index. The inclusion will take effect on July 1.
The Russell 3000 Index is a widely used benchmark for tracking the performance of the broad U.S. equity market. Major financial institutions like Vanguard and BlackRock offer exchange-traded funds (ETFs) designed to closely follow the index’s performance. According to FTSE Russell, as of 2023, over $10 trillion in assets are benchmarked to the Russell U.S. indexes.
Hut 8 is joining the Russell 3000 Index for the first time after becoming a U.S.-domiciled mining operation following its merger with USBTC. Core Scientific, which was first added to the index in June 2022, had entered Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection but emerged earlier this year.
Driven by recent AI-related initiatives, Hut 8 and Core Scientific saw their market capitalizations rise to $1.4 billion and $1.8 billion, respectively, as of June 26.
Both companies were also added to the Russell Microcap Index, indicating they are among the smallest 1,000 companies in the Russell 3000 by market capitalization.
The Russell Microcap Index includes the smallest 1,000 companies in the Russell 3000 plus the next 1,000 smallest eligible securities. Other mining stocks added to the Microcap Index include Stronghold Digital Mining and Gryphon Digital Mining.