The cryptocurrency train left the station midway through last year. That initial train ride took Bitcoin all the way to more than $60k per coin in a matter of months. Now, volatility in the space has re-emerged, which offers new investors a fresh chance to get on board for a potential next leg in the longer-term trend.
One signal that such a next leg might be in the offing was given by El Salvador’s President Nayib Bukele on Wednesday when he made good on his promise to adopt Bitcoin as legal tender.
According to articles across the financial media, officials in the Central American country’s congress voted to accept the cryptocurrency by a majority of 62 out of 84 votes. El Salvador will thus become the first country in the world to accept Bitcoin as legal tender (alongside the US dollar) three months from now, as noted by the BBC.
To say something is “legal tender” in any country means that it can be used as payment for any good or service unless the selling business is unable to facilitate such a transaction – which, in this case, would mean that the business might lack the technological infrastructure to process a Bitcoin transaction for its goods or services.
One aspect of this move from El Salvador should send shudders down the spine of Bitcoin bears: According to Bukele, this legal shift will allow as many as 70 percent of El Salvador’s population to take part in its economy because that’s the portion of the country’s residents who lack a bank account. El Salvador is likely not all that unique in the developing world.
His decision had broad support.
Can you imagine what might happen to the price of Bitcoin if this turns out to be just the first in a series of dominoes that grants digital payment capabilities to populations of developing world nations all around the world?
That would have huge implications for stocks like Coinbase Global Inc (NASDAQ:COIN), Riot Blockchain Inc (NASDAQ:RIOT), ISW Holdings (OTCMKTS:ISWH), Marathon Patent Group Inc (NASDAQ:MARA), HIVE Blockchain Technologies Ltd (OTCMKTS:HVBTF), MicroStrategy Incorporated (NASDAQ:MSTR), and Paypal Holdings Inc (NASDAQ:PYPL).
Riot Blockchain Inc (NASDAQ:RIOT) is expanding and upgrading its mining operations by securing the most energy efficient miners currently available. The company also holds certain non-controlling investments in blockchain technology companies.
Riot is headquartered in Castle Rock, Colorado, and the company’s mining facility operates out of upstate New York, under a co-location hosting agreement with Coinmint.
Riot Blockchain Inc (NASDAQ:RIOT) recently announced acquisition of Whinstone US (“Whinstone”) from Northern Data (XETRA: NB2). The total consideration paid in the transaction was 11.8 million shares of Riot common stock and $80 million in cash, funded with cash on the balance sheet.
“The successful acquisition of Whinstone marks the most significant milestone in Riot’s history, and firmly establishes the Company as a leading Bitcoin mining platform,” said Jason Les, CEO of Riot. “With Whinstone’s preeminent infrastructure and best-in-class construction, development, and operations organization, Riot is extremely well-positioned to increase the scale and scope of its operations. We welcome the talented Whinstone employees to the Riot family, and I look forward to leading our combined team as we jointly execute upon the Company’s mission to become one of the most relevant and significant companies supporting the Bitcoin network and greater Bitcoin ecosystem.”
The context for this announcement is a bit of a bid, with shares acting well over the past five days, up about 5% in that timeframe.
Riot Blockchain Inc (NASDAQ:RIOT) pulled in sales of $23.2M in its last reported quarterly financials, representing top line growth of 872.2%. In addition, the company has a strong balance sheet, with cash levels far exceeding current liabilities ($275.6M against $7.4M).
ISW Holdings (OTCMKTS:ISWH) ramped up its crypto operations last summer through its legal, official JV partnership with Bit5ive LLC. As noted above, El Salvador just made BTC legal tender. It just so happens that Bit5ive has now become one of the most important licensed distributors of Bitmain equipment, the world’s leading producer of Bitcoin mining technology.
In addition, ISWH and Bit5ive partnered in designing and assembling the company’s POD5IVE mining pod, a fully self-contained high-PUE mining solution designed, assembled, and installed in partnership with Bit5ive at the Bit5ive 100 MW renewable energy cryptocurrency mining facility in Pennsylvania. It has since tripled its fleet of mining pods.
Each pod is powered by 280 mining rigs and is capable of driving roughly $2.9 million in annualized revenues (at current cryptocurrency price levels). ISW Holdings continues to build out its own mining capacity, with plans to bring multiple additional pods online this year. However, data from pod mining operations is also being collected for the purpose of marketing the POD5IVE datacenter to other businesses and individuals interested in a self-contained industry-leading cryptocurrency mining solution.
ISW Holdings (OTCMKTS:ISWH) also just announced the delivery of a fleet of 300 cryptocurrency miners to be installed into its new POD5IVE Mining pods this morning.
“This is a huge step, and we are excited to increase our efficiency and scale with the installation of this large new order of mining rigs,” noted Alonzo Pierce, President and Chairman of ISW Holdings. “We have more miners heading our way over coming weeks and months as we continue to build out our capacity to monetize the investment we have made in this space over the past year.”
For a more thorough understanding of this name, we would point to a recent episode of the Waypoint Podcast, which featured Robert Callazo of Bit5ive and Mr. Pierce from ISW Holdings. The podcast can be found HERE.
ISW Holdings (OTCMKTS:ISWH) has reduced outstanding shares by nearly 25% and eliminated over $3.4 million (or 94%) of outstanding convertible debt in recent months. As noted in its recent corporate update, the Company anticipates at least threefold growth in topline performance in 2021 versus 2020 as its expanding crypto mining operations fully ramp up. It has also shown topline and bottom-line growth over recent quarters from its Telehealth and Home Healthcare division.
Coinbase Global Inc (NASDAQ:COIN) trumpets itself as a company building the crypto-economy – a more fair, accessible, efficient, and transparent financial system enabled by crypto.
Coinbase started in 2012 with the radical idea that anyone, anywhere, should be able to easily and securely send and receive Bitcoin. Today, Coinbase offers a trusted and easy-to-use platform for accessing the broader crypto-economy.
Coinbase Global Inc (NASDAQ:COIN) most recently announced the pricing of $1.25 billion aggregate principal amount of Convertible Senior Notes due 2026 in a private offering (the “offering”) to persons reasonably believed to be qualified institutional buyers pursuant to Rule 144A promulgated under the Securities Act of 1933, as amended.
According to the release, Coinbase also granted the initial purchasers of the notes a 30-day option to purchase up to an additional $187.5 million principal amount of notes, solely to cover over-allotments. The sale of the notes to the initial purchasers is expected to settle on May 21, 2021, subject to customary closing conditions, and is expected to result in approximately $1.22 billion (or approximately $1.40 billion if the initial purchasers exercise their option to purchase additional notes in full) in net proceeds to Coinbase after deducting the initial purchasers’ discounts and commissions and estimated offering expenses payable by Coinbase.
Even in light of this news, COIN has had a rough past week of trading action, with shares sinking something like -7% in that time. That said, chart support is nearby and we may be in the process of constructing a nice setup for some movement back the other way.
Coinbase Global Inc (NASDAQ:COIN) managed to rope in revenues totaling $1.8B in overall sales during the company’s most recently reported quarterly financial data — a figure that represents a rate of top line growth of 844.8%, as compared to year-ago data in comparable terms.
Marathon Patent Group Inc (NASDAQ:MARA) currently operates its proprietary Data Center in Hardin MT with a maximum power capacity of 105 Megawatts.
Once fully deployed, the Company will have 21,500 Antminer Bitmain S-19 Pro Bitcoin Miners in operation at this facility. MARA also owns 2,060 advanced ASIC Bitcoin Miners at a co-hosted facility in North Dakota.
Marathon Patent Group Inc (NASDAQ:MARA) recently published unaudited bitcoin production and miner installation updates for May 2021.
As noted in its release, the company produced 226.6 new minted bitcoins during May 2021, increasing total bitcoin holdings to approximately 5,518 with a fair market value of approximately $203.4 million, cash on hand was approximately $191.8 million and total liquidity, defined as cash and bitcoin holdings, was approximately $395.1 million, it received approximately 16,809 S-19 Pro ASIC miners from Bitmain year to date with an additional 1,911 S-19 Pro ASIC miners currently in transit, and it increased active mining fleet to approximately 17,655 miners, generating approximately 1.9 EH/s.
And the stock has been acting well over recent days, up something like 4% in that time. Marathon Patent Group Inc (NASDAQ:MARA) managed to rope in revenues totaling $9.2M in overall sales during the company’s most recently reported quarterly financial data — a figure that represents a rate of top line growth of 1444.8%, as compared to year-ago data in comparable terms. In addition, the company has a strong balance sheet, with cash levels far exceeding current liabilities ($504.5M against $2.9M).
