Bitcoin is back in gear this week with a major bullish technical breakout on Monday that takes BTC to new year-to-date highs and puts the leading digital currency above its major trend moving averages for the first time since late last year.
The leading crypto is now within a single average daily range of the key $50,000 level.
One of the big catalysts in play right now could be capital flight from developed world bonds, which has been sparked from a combination of high inflation readings, aggressive monetary policy tightening forecasts, and a rapidly returning appetite for risk exposure among market participants.
We would also point to recent signals from the world’s largest hedge fund, Bridgewater Associates, that the firm plans to invest in one of the major third-party crypto funds, which points to further risks ahead for fiat currencies, especially given the specter of persistent geopolitical risk factors defining the cross-asset investment context for the foreseeable future.
However, for aggressive investors looking for continued strength in cryptocurrencies, a straight investment in Bitcoin may not offer the optimal return potential. Recent history suggests crypto-related stocks can often end up outperforming Bitcoin during new rallies in the space.
With that in mind, we take a look below at a selection of stocks with crypto exposure that could benefit if the advance continues or picks up steam.
Hive Blockchain Technologies Ltd. (Nasdaq:HIVE) went public in 2017 as the first cryptocurrency mining company with a green energy and ESG strategy.
The company defines itself as a growth-oriented technology stock in the emergent blockchain industry. HIVE owns state-of-the-art, green energy-powered data centre facilities in Canada, Sweden, and Iceland, where it claims to source only green energy to mine on the cloud and HODL both Ethereum and Bitcoin. Since the beginning of 2021, HIVE has held in secure storage the majority of its ETH and BTC coin mining rewards.
Hive Blockchain Technologies Ltd. (Nasdaq:HIVE) recently announced the production figures from the Company’s global Bitcoin and Ethereum mining operations for the month of February 2022, with a BTC HODL balance of 2,374 Bitcoin as of February 28, 2022, including 244.4 BTC Produced and the achievement of 1.9 Exahash of Bitcoin mining capacity.
Frank Holmes, Executive Chairman of HIVE stated, “We are pleased to report HIVE has maintained its strong Bitcoin hashing power through the month of February even as the network difficulty rose. In February we produced an average of 8.7 BTC per day, and note that as of today, we are producing approximately 8.8 BTC a day.”
We’ve witnessed 19% piled on for shareholders of the name during the trailing week, but that move comes in the context of a larger bearish trend. However, HIVE has a history of dramatic rallies. In addition, the name has seen a growing influx of trading interest, with the stock’s recent average trading volume running 6% beyond what we have been seeing over the larger time frame.
HIVE has a significant war chest ($326.5M) of cash on the books, which must be weighed relative to about $19.4M in total current liabilities. One should also note that debt has been growing over recent quarters. HIVE is pulling in trailing 12-month revenues of $240.3M. In addition, the company is seeing major top-line growth, with y/y quarterly revenues growing at 381.2%.
Marketing Worldwide Corp. (OTC US:MWWC) is a very interesting diversified player that has an innovative access point into the cryptocurrency space with its emerging Minosis Platform project (see www.minosis.io). The company also has interests in the cybersecurity space and recently retired over 1.75 billion shares.
Over recent months, MWWC has enlisted developers, web-designers, and marketing agents to deploy a fully functioning “community-based” crypto mining platform. As MWWC CEO Jason Schlenk noted last October, “Our goal is to make the installation and rig set-up as easy as possible and we believe we have accomplished that with the use of the Minosis Agent; in doing so, this will hopefully remove the complicated perceptions of using your laptop or desktop computer to mine crypto-currency.”
Marketing Worldwide Corp. (OTC US:MWWC) just announced this week that the Minosis platform has now officially launched.
According to its release, Marketing Worldwide’s #Minosis Agent has completed key software updates to facilitate an easy-to-use feature that allows users to get mining with unprecedented speed and convenience, creating significant increased production opportunities.
The company added that it will now begin its aggressive marketing campaign through trade publications and web-based forums and ‘PPC’ (pay-per-click) platforms targeting millions of #cryptocurrency enthusiasts with the expectations of adding up to 250,000 users to the platform before year’s end.
Currently, the Minosis platform is netting approximately $0.12 USD per day per user in transaction fees, which does not include accelerated hash rates or commercial equipment boosters that are expected to be added throughout the course of the year.
Marketing Worldwide Corp. (OTC US:MWWC) could be sitting on a goldmine of growth based on a unique model. Clearly, if this net outcome persists and the company hits its goal of 250k users by year end, daily fee-based revenues could reach $30,000, or over $900,000 per month, adding up to an annual run-rate of nearly $11 million. However, as the company describes its model, this could be much higher after accounting for accelerated hash rates and commercial equipment boosters, as anticipated.
Riot Blockchain Inc. (Nasdaq:RIOT) engages in the provision of special cryptocurrency mining computers. It invests in Verady, Coinsquare, and Tess.
The stock’s shares have been pummeled over the past year, but the company remains one of the most recognizable names in the cryptocurrency mining marketplace. The stock has fallen from $80/share to the low teens over a year and some change, but it continues to expand mining production and has a strong infrastructure and footprint.
Riot Blockchain Inc. (Nasdaq:RIOT) recently announced production and operations update for February 2022, status of miner shipments and deployment, and updates on the 400 megawatt infrastructure expansion at the Company’s Whinstone facility in Rockdale, Texas. In February 2022, Riot produced 436 BTC, an increase of approximately 189%, as compared to February 2021 production of 179 BTC.
“Throughout the month of February Riot has continued to make progress on the first phase of its 200 MW immersion-cooled Bitcoin mining deployment, with over 10,000 S19j Pro Antminers now deployed in immersion-cooling tanks,” said Jason Les, CEO of Riot Blockchain. “We have begun the performance evaluation process, and will be monitoring our immersion performance data closely over the next 60 days. As our team continues to build out our immersion operation, we are evaluating and assessing future opportunities to further leverage our expertise in immersion-cooling development and deployment.”
And the stock has been acting well over recent days, up something like 15% in that time.
Riot Blockchain Inc. (Nasdaq:RIOT) managed to rope in revenues totaling $90.9M in overall sales during the company’s most recently reported quarterly financial data — a figure that represents a rate of top line growth of 1617.8%, as compared to year-ago data in comparable terms. In addition, the company has a strong balance sheet, with cash levels exceeding current liabilities ($482.7M against $109.9M).
Other key names in the crypto space include Marathon Digital Holdings Inc. (Nasdaq:MARA), MicroStrategy Inc. (Nasdaq:MSTR), Hut 8 Mining Corp. (Nasdaq:HUT), and Coinbase Global Inc. (Nasdaq:COIN).
