The cryptocurrency space received a major shot in the arm over recent weeks after Elon Musk, Cathie Wood, and Jack Dorsey – three of the most celebrated BTC supporters on the planet – joined together at an impromptu support-the-market event they called “The B-Word” in response to continued selling pressure in Bitcoin. It was a gambit to save the market from further losses by providing a narrative that supported long-term growth forecasts.
And it worked. Very well.
And that event was followed by big news from both Amazon.com, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMZN) and Square Inc (NYSE:SQ) that worked sharply in favor of the crypto space. AMZN’s news, in particular, spurred a ton of heat – an ad from the $2 trillion behemoth searching for a new hire: a cryptocurrency expert.
All of these signs support the notion that the Bitcoin chart has just experienced a correction that will serve to highlight an ongoing bull market yet to see its next-leg fresh highs in due time.
This has implications for stocks in the space, including Marathon Digital Holdings Inc (NASDAQ:MARA), ISW Holdings (OTC US:ISWH), Riot Blockchain Inc (NASDAQ:RIOT), HIVE Blockchain Technologies Ltd (NASDAQ:HVBT), MicroStrategy Incorporated (NASDAQ:MSTR), Paypal Holdings Inc (NASDAQ:PYPL), and Coinbase Global Inc (NASDAQ:COIN).
We take a closer look at some of the more interesting catalysts in the space below.
Marathon Digital Holdings Inc (NASDAQ:MARA) is one of the most recognizable names in the crypto mining space at this point.
The company is a digital asset technology player that engages in mining cryptocurrencies, with a focus on the blockchain ecosystem and the generation of digital assets.
Marathon Digital Holdings Inc (NASDAQ:MARA) recently announced that it has entered into a contract with Bitmain to purchase an additional 30,000 Antminer S19j Pro (100 TH/s) miners for $120.7 million.
“Increasing our percentage of the total network’s hash rate increases our probability of earning bitcoin, and given the uniquely favorable conditions in the current mining environment, we believe it is an opportune time to add new miners to our operations,” said Fred Thiel, Marathon’s CEO. “With this new order, we are growing our operations by 30% to approximately 133,000 miners, producing 13.3 EH/s. As a result, once all miners are fully deployed, our mining operations will be among the largest, not just in North America, but globally. We’d like to thank the team at Bitmain for expediting this order as we work to further scale our operations and establish Marathon as one of the leading Bitcoin miners in North America.”
The stock has suffered a bit of late, with shares of MARA taking a hit in recent action, down about -5% over the past week. Over the past month, shares of the stock have suffered from clear selling pressure, dropping by roughly -7%.
Marathon Digital Holdings 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 exceeding current liabilities ($504.5M against $2.9M).
ISW Holdings (OTC US:ISWH) bills itself as a company quickly becoming one of the largest Mining and Hosting providers in the digital currency space in North America. This is certainly backed up by the company’s recent communications.
ISWH utilizes a scalable blockchain infrastructure to convert unique identifiable assets (UIAs) into interchangeable digital assets such as Bitcoin and other fungible digital assets, and it offers immediate liquidity in the form of fast, confidential transactions, as well as the issuance of assets in the traditional capital markets.
ISW Holdings (OTC US:ISWH) announced this morning that it is set to rebrand itself for investors by changing its name to BlockQuarry Corp. This follows the company’s recently announced partnership with Bitmain.
The Company’s President and Chairman, Alonzo Pierce, explained, “We have reached significant milestones in acquiring and commercializing Blockchain and Cryptocurrency data mining equipment and platforms over the past year. As a result, we are rebranding to ensure our image better aligns with our ongoing operations and long-term strategic goals.”
According to its release, over the past year, the Company has cultivated a business model concentrated in the digital mining sector and implemented additional investments in land and power expansions in Georgia following the launch of its Pennsylvania POD5 mining field. The name change reflects a corporate rebranding effort necessitated by this demonstrable commitment to blockchain infrastructure, cryptocurrency mining, and collaborative hosting.
“We gravitated toward ‘BlockQuarry’ because it is clearly and unambiguously tethered to the Blockchain and Cryptocurrency marketplace theme, and it carries an interesting dual meaning,” added Pierce. “As a noun, it refers to a place where blocks are extracted from the blockchain by the processing of encrypted algorithms. As a verb, it refers to the act of mining and extracting blockchain algorithms to produce a return in the form of coins.”
ISW Holdings (OTC US:ISWH) has been acting extremely well lately, up as much as 100% in July, which could certainly continue given the nature of its 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.
HIVE Blockchain Technologies Ltd (NASDAQ:HVBT) frames itself as a company that engages in building a bridge from the blockchain sector to traditional capital markets.
It is also involved in the production of mined cryptocurrency such as Ethereum and Bitcoin.
HIVE Blockchain Technologies Ltd (NASDAQ:HVBT) recently announced that its global operations are producing a BTC equivalent operational hash rate of 1.675 EH/s from its Bitcoin and Ethereum operations.
Based on current Ethereum and Bitcoin prices, the company is generating a daily income of $550,000, which translates to an annual run rate of $200 million. Estimated annual run rate operating and overhead costs are $25 million. In addition, HIVE continues to strengthen its miner purchasing pipeline with the purchase of 4,000 next generation miners with an aggregate operating hash power of 272 PH/s.
And the stock has been acting well over recent days, up something like 5% in that time. Over the past month, shares of the stock have suffered from clear selling pressure, dropping by roughly -13%.
HIVE Blockchain Technologies Ltd (NASDAQ:HVBT) managed to rope in revenues totaling $17.9M in overall sales during the company’s most recently reported quarterly financial data — a figure that represents a rate of top line growth of 170.4%, as compared to year-ago data in comparable terms. In addition, the company has a strong balance sheet, with cash levels exceeding current liabilities ($20.8M against $15.4M).
