** Shares of cryptocurrency and blockchain-related companies rise as bitcoin gains more than $1,500
** The world's biggest cryptocurrency is currently up 2.6%; bitcoin dropped below $60,000 for the first time in seven weeks on Monday
** Cryptocurrency exchange Coinbase Global is up 3.3% and miners Riot Platforms , Marathon Digital
and U.S.-listed shares of Hut 8 Mining rise between 3.4% and 18.4%
** Bitcoin miner CleanSpark gains 2.6%, while software firm MicroStrategy , a major crypto bull, climbs 6.9%
** ProShares Bitcoin Strategy ETF up 4.5%
** Bitcoin is up ~40% YTD
(Reporting by Pritam Biswas in Bengaluru)
((Pritam.Biswas@thomsonreuters.com))