While the most popular cryptocurrency, bitcoin, has been experiencing a sell-off lately on concerns over the U.S. Treasury’s potential crackdown on money laundering executed through digital assets, it witnessed a big rally over the past year to hit a record high of $64,869.78 last week. According to CoinMarketCap data quoted in a Yahoo Finance article, the market value of all bitcoins in circulation has hit $1 trillion, surging 800% over the past year.

In sync with bitcoin, other cryptocurrencies, such as ethereum, have also been selling off lately. But acceptance of cryptocurrencies by big-brand businesses like Tesla (TSLA) and Mastercard (MA), and growing investments by institutions in cryptocurrencies to hedge against increased global money supply, have driven digital currencies’ rallies over the past year. These factors, along with technological advancements, should continue driving the performance of cryptocurrencies this year and beyond.

Be it primarily a currency miner or companies developing backend technology, cryptocurrency stocks have seen a meteoric rise over the past year.  Marathon Patent Group, Inc. (MARA), GreenBox POS (GBOX), and Riot Blockchain Inc. (RIOT) have performed spectacularly over this period. However, considering the near-term concerns surrounding digital currencies, investors should keep an eye on these stocks for the best entry opportunities.

While digital currencies are attractive investments to institutional investors, the associated risks and their high volatility make them very risky for individual investors. Thus, many individual investors choose to go with cryptocurrency stocks rather than investing directly in digital currencies. Some investors consider this the best way to capture the upside of the crypto assets over the long term.

Marathon Digital Holdings, Inc. (MARA)

MARA is a U.S.-based digital asset technology provider that mines cryptocurrencies and focuses on the blockchain ecosystem and the generation of digital assets. The stock has rallied 8.953.5% over the past year to close at $38.93 on Friday. During the past six months, MARA gained 1685.8%.

Towards the end of March 2021,MARA announced the launch of the first North American-based Bitcoin Mining Pool that is fully compliant with AML and OFAC regulations. The primary objective of this initiative is to distribute mining rewards to MARA’s cryptocurrency mining systems and a larger group of third-party miners.

For the full year ended December 31, 2020, MARA’s total revenue surged 268% year-over-year to $4.4 million. The carrying value of the company’s digital assets was $2.3 billion. MARA’s cash at the end of the quarter climbed to $216 million from $17.3 million posted in the same period last year. Its loss per share for the quarter also narrowed to $0.13 from $0.53 posted in the same period last year.

According to the company’s latest Bitcoin mining update in April, its capacity more than doubled January – March 2021. MARA held total Bitcoins worth $302 million at the end of March. The company also installed an additional 10,300 mining systems during the first quarter, bringing its total mining fleet to 12,900 systems. In this period, the company also received 10,300 top-of-the-line Bitmain s-19 Pros, which are more powerful than most other hardware on the market.

The company expects to operate 103,000 systems by the end of March 2022. The expansion in MARA’s mining capacity is likely to generate significant revenues and profits over time.

GreenBox POS (GBOX)

GBOX is a technology company that focuses on developing and monetizing disruptive blockchain-based applications, integrated within an end-to-end suite of financial products. The company’s proprietary, blockchain-based ecosystem is used to leverage customized payment solutions.

GBOX has soared 1361.6% over the past year to end Friday’s session at $9.75. The stock has surged 316.7% during the past six months. In February, the company up listed to NASDAQ and  raised $50.1 million in the public offering.

During the full year, ended December 31, 2020, GBOX’s revenue declined 14.8% year-over-year to $8.5 million. The exit of ChargeSavvy from GBOX’s ecosystem in August 2020 caused  the revenue decrease. The company logged  a gross profit of $3.7 million compared to a loss of $1.1 million posted in the prior-year period due to processing efficiency and reduced costs.

The primary source of GBOX’s revenue is its processing volume. The company believes that the rapid adoption of its proprietary blockchain technology and the launch of its smart-contract token technology will  boost its revenue further. The January 2021 launch of its Gen3 technology boosted GBOX’s blockchain ledger-based payment solutions by accelerating  new merchant onboarding. GBOX has also announced the development of GBOXT, a new secure smart-contract token technology, to accelerate transaction volume in the GreenBox blockchain platform.

Riot Blockchain Inc. (RIOT)

RIOT is involved primarily in Bitcoin mining operations in North America. The stock has rallied 3715.4% over the past year to end Friday’s session at $44.64. Over the past six months, RIOT surged 1335.4%.

In its business update on March 15, the company announced that it had mined 302 new Bitcoins in the fourth quarter, bringing its total Bitcoin mining tally for the fiscal year to 1,005. RIOT announced its plans to purchase 1,500 Antminer cryptocurrency mining rigs from Bitmain Technologies in a deal worth $7.53 million. RIOT has more than  1,565 bitcoins on its balance sheet, produced by its mining operations.

In a bid to acquire Texas-based Whinstone U.S. from Germany-based Northern Data AG, RIOT has also agreed to pay nearly $651 million.

RIOT’s total mining revenue for the full year, ended December 31, 2020, climbed 78% year-over-year to $12 million, led by  momentum in  RIOT’s Bitcoin mining operation and strong pricing for the cryptocurrency. Notably, its mining cost rose only 3%. The company raised its hashrate by 460% in 2020. RIOT’s BTC amount at the end of December 2020 climbed 111% from 514 BTC to 1078 BTC.  The company’s total computational power increased to 566 PH/s as of December 31, 2020 from 101 pentahashes per second (PH/s).

MARA shares were trading at $34.88 per share on Monday morning, down $4.05 (-10.40%). Year-to-date, MARA has gained 234.10%, versus a 11.60% rise in the benchmark S&P 500 index during the same period.

About the Author: Namrata Sen Chanda

Namrata is an accomplished financial journalist, with nearly a decade of experience. She specializes in interpreting news releases and framing investment strategies, and has worked with some of the leading companies in real estate, banking, insurance, mutual funds, financial research, fintech, and investment education. More...

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