Given the emphasis in the financial media over the past few weeks, you may be shocked to find out that we have seen one of the most remarkable rallies in a major asset class ever during that time – you probably haven’t heard anything about it. But, yes, Bitcoin has surged as much as more than 60% in the past 3 weeks.
Imagine if that happened to the US Dollar, or gold, or the S&P. It would be front page news in every paper in the country. Yet it happens to Bitcoin, and no one is really saying much of anything.
The reason is “beta” – BTC is simply more volatile than these other asset classes. But that doesn’t necessarily mean that the move isn’t important. In this case, it is backed up on a technical level by a key breakout above the major MA’s. It has also drawn the attention of some major players.
One good example is Intel’s recent move to invest in Coinbase. According to Yahoo Finance, in a filing with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) on Friday, Intel revealed that it holds 3,014 shares of Coinbase’s common stock, which will now be worth over $770,000.
That has the potential to reshape the playing field in the crypto space, influencing stocks like HIVE Blockchain Technologies Ltd (NASDAQ:HVBT), ISW Holdings (OTC US:ISWH), MicroStrategy Incorporated (NASDAQ:MSTR), Marathon Digital Holdings Inc (NASDAQ:MARA), Riot Blockchain Inc (NASDAQ:RIOT), Bit Digital Inc (NASDAQ:BTBT), and Grayscale Bitcoin Trust (Btc) (OTC US:GBTC).
We take a closer look at some of the more interesting catalysts in the space below.
MicroStrategy Incorporated (NASDAQ:MSTR) engages in the provision of enterprise analytics and mobility software. It has been a core play for equity investors in the crypto space given its large reserves of bitcoin and its clear commitment to holding BTC as a form of cash – a bet on the long-term viability of the BTC market.
The firm designs, develops, markets, and sells software platform through licensing arrangements and cloud-based subscriptions and related services. Its product packages include Hyper.Now, Consumer User Bundle, and Power User Bundle.
MicroStrategy Incorporated (NASDAQ:MSTR) recently announced financial results for the three-month period ended June 30, 2021 (the second quarter of its 2021 fiscal year). “MicroStrategy continued its strong 2021 by delivering an outstanding operational performance across the board and completing another successful capital raise to expand our digital asset holdings. We had one of our best operational quarters in our software business in years, highlighted by 13% revenue growth. Our success in the market is being driven by the investments we have made and the broad adoption of our innovative MicroStrategy platform,” said Michael J. Saylor, CEO, MicroStrategy Incorporated.
“We continue to be pleased by the results of the implementation of our digital asset strategy. Our latest capital raise allowed us to expand our digital holdings, which now exceed 105,000 bitcoins. Going forward, we intend to continue to deploy additional capital into our digital asset strategy.”
While this is a clear factor, it has been incorporated into a trading tape characterized by a pretty dominant offer, which hasn’t been the type of action MSTR shareholders really want to see. In total, over the past five days, shares of the stock have dropped by roughly -12% on above average trading volume. All in all, not a particularly friendly tape, but one that may ultimately present some new opportunities. Shares of the stock have powered higher over the past month, rallying roughly 32% in that time on strong overall action.
MicroStrategy Incorporated (NASDAQ:MSTR) managed to rope in revenues totaling $125.4M in overall sales during the company’s most recently reported quarterly financial data — a figure that represents a rate of top line growth of 13.4%, as compared to year-ago data in comparable terms. In addition, the company is battling some balance sheet hurdles, with cash levels struggling to keep up with current liabilities ($57.6M against $275M, respectively).
ISW Holdings (OTC US:ISWH) may be the most interesting newcomer name in the space given its recent partnership with Bitmain, the global leading play in the crypto space.
ISW is in the process of changing its name to “BlockQuarry”, which could have material value given the retail-investor enthusiasm that surrounds the crypto stock marketplace. The company has real operations and appears to be rounding the corner to potential stardom if it can execute on its recent catalysts in terms of the implied long-term benefits and financial performance that seem to be written into the equation given its strategic vision, which includes both hosting and mining operations.
ISW Holdings (OTC US:ISWH) announced this morning the completion of an asset purchase agreement with Minerset, LLC, a Delaware limited liability company, providing for the purchase of 400 state-of-the-art cryptocurrency miners by ISW Holdings.
“As we have discussed in our recent communications, we are actively engaged in expansion in both our hosting and mining segments,” stated Alonzo Pierce, President and Chairman of ISW Holdings. “This asset purchase agreement with Minerset represents a material broadening of our in-house mining capacity and will enable us to drive further topline growth in the second half of 2021 as we ramp up toward the sizable jump lined up for next year thanks to our recent partnership deal with Bitmain.”
According to its release, the Agreement provides for the purchase of 150 BitMain S19 95TH/s miners and 250 Canaan AvalonMiner 1246 90TH/s miners. The equipment purchase adds $3.8 million in new physical assets to the Company’s balance sheet and will dramatically expand its total in-house mining capacity and hashrate once installed and activated. Payment has already been made and the Company is set to take possession of the miners, which will be installed and activated in POD5 units at the Company’s mining site in Pennsylvania, bringing its Stronghold mining operation hashrate to 54,000 TH/s.
ISW Holdings (OTC US:ISWH) has been demonstrating serious accumulation in recent action, which could certainly continue given the nature of its recent Bitmain partnership. The company has also reduced outstanding shares by nearly 25% and eliminated over $3.4 million (or 94%) of outstanding convertible debt in recent months.
Riot Blockchain Inc (NASDAQ:RIOT) has become one of the key players in the cryptocurrency stock space for retail traders. The stock was trading at just $4 per share 9 months ago. It continues to ride an uptrend defined by its 200-day moving average, which trails and points higher in technical analysis terms.
Riot is bitcoin mining company that engages in the provision special cryptocurrency mining computers. It invests in Verady, Coinsquare, and Tess.
Riot Blockchain Inc (NASDAQ:RIOT) recently announced its July production and operations updates, including its unaudited Bitcoin production for July 2021 and its miner shipping/deployment status. The announcement included news that, in July 2021, Riot produced 444 BTC, an increase of approximately 771% over its July 2020 production of 51 BTC, year to date through July 2021, the Company produced a total of 1,610 BTC, an increase of approximately 188% over its BTC production during the same 2020 period of 559 BTC, and as of July 31, 2021, Riot held approximately 2,687 BTC, all of which were produced by its self-mining operations.
According to the company, during the month of July, Riot’s Whinstone facility underwent the necessary infrastructure upgrades to support the ongoing deployment of Riot’s latest-generation S19 Antminers scheduled to be received from Bitmain Tech Lte. Ltd. (“Bitmain”). Installation of recently received miners has extended into August with approximately 4,200 S19 Pro Antminers (110 TH) in the process of being deployed at the Whinstone facility. Based on this ongoing installation, Riot’s hash rate capacity is approximately 1.93 exahash per second (EH/s).
The stock has suffered a bit of late, with shares of RIOT taking a hit in recent action, down about -15% over the past week. Shares of the stock have powered higher over the past month, rallying roughly 27% in that time on strong overall action.
Riot Blockchain Inc (NASDAQ:RIOT) managed to rope in revenues totaling $23.2M in overall sales during the company’s most recently reported quarterly financial data — a figure that represents a rate of top line growth of 872.2%, as compared to year-ago data in comparable terms. In addition, the company has a strong balance sheet, with cash levels exceeding current liabilities ($275.6M against $7.4M).
