** Shares of cryptocurrency and blockchain-related companies rise premarket as bitcoin advances
** Bitcoin BTC=, the world's biggest cryptocurrency, is up 0.8%; Ether ETH= rises 0.9%
** Cryptocurrency exchange Coinbase Global COIN.O up 2.2%; miners Riot Platforms RIOT.O, Marathon Digital MARA.O and U.S.-listed shares of Hut 8 Mining HUT.O rise 1.7%, 2.1% and 2.6%, respectively
** Bitcoin miner CleanSpark CLSK.O rises 2.1%, while software firm MicroStrategy MSTR.O, a major crypto bull, advances 2.8%
** ProShares Bitcoin Strategy ETF BITO.P up 3.5%
** YTD bitcoin is up ~25%
(Reporting by Pritam Biswas in Bengaluru)