3. Canaan and Hut 8 Mining
Bitcoin mining has changed dramatically over the past few years. These days, companies such as Canaan (CAN -5.12%) design high-powered, application-specific integrated circuit (ASIC) machines specifically for the purpose of brute-force guessing correct hashes for proof-of-work cryptocurrencies. Canaan's next-generation Avalon ASICs can make tens of trillions of guesses every second for the right hash to validate blocks on the Bitcoin network, which is millions of times more powerful than AMD (AMD -5.67%) and Nvidia's (NVDA -4.39%) latest graphics processing units (GPUs). Sales have been skyrocketing due to the device's affordability and relatively low energy consumption, meaning greater profits for miners.
One of the most popular Bitcoin mining stocks is MARA Holdings (MARA -6.40%). The Florida-based company commands a sizable minority stake in the overall Bitcoin network, and it generates very strong cash flows compared to revenue. Instead of selling the Bitcoin it mines on the market, the company formerly known as Marathon Digital Holdings records its mining rewards in the form of digital assets rather than selling the coins to generate dollar-based results.
Investors can be assured that environmental concerns regarding the practice won't hold the company back since it relies on renewable energy sources and can lease its electricity back to local utilities as needed.
4. Strategy
The company formerly known as Microstrategy has rebranded itself as Strategy (MSTR -5.11%), and its wholehearted focus on cryptocurrency operations is Wall Street's worst-kept secret.
The company started converting its cash reserves into Bitcoin in the summer of 2020, and its enterprise software operations soon started to look irrelevant.
In February 2025, the company held 478,740 Bitcoins on its balance sheet at a spot-price value of $46.6 billion. Strategy also continues to buy more Bitcoin, with an official plan to raise $21 billion in loans and another $21 billion in stock sales to support more crypto acquisitions from 2024 to 2027.
It's a bold strategy with massive potential upside if Bitcoin's value keeps rising in the long run. It's also a risky one, as it will expose you to huge risks if the Bitcoin story goes off the rails for some reason.
Strategy is best managed as a small and speculative investment, large enough to make a potential difference but small enough that you won't lose much sleep if it goes to zero. It's an all-or-nothing approach to Bitcoin's fundamental value, amplified with traditional business tools such as loans and opportunistic stock sales.
