What happened
Investors in a range of cryptocurrency mining stocks are winning big today. As of 1:45 p.m. ET, CleanSpark (CLSK -1.59%), Bit Digital (BTBT 3.59%), Bitfarms (BITF -2.24%), and TeraWulf (WULF -0.80%) investors have seen gains of 7.8%, 7.2%, 4.5%, and 1.8%, respectively, from yesterday's close. Interestingly, each of these companies has given up some of their gains from their intraday highs.
These moves appear to be driven by a resurgence in Bitcoin prices today. The price of Bitcoin, the most important factor in terms of revenue generation and profitability for these crypto miners, is up 1.8% over the past 24 hours at the time of writing. Additionally, it appears many crypto miners remain bullish on the outlook for Bitcoin prices over time, with the upcoming Bitcoin halving in 2024 being the key catalyst some in the sector are looking to for growth.
So what
Bitcoin prices have traded within a relatively narrow range in recent months, and today's rather significant swing to the upside has been somewhat of an outlier. That said, any sort of significant surge in Bitcoin prices often leads to even greater moves higher in Bitcoin miners, due to the leverage these companies provide to the underlying price of Bitcoin. A 2% surge in Bitcoin often leads to 4% to 8% moves in Bitcoin miners, as these companies benefit disproportionately from higher Bitcoin prices (revenue is denominated in Bitcoin, while debt is mostly denominated in dollars).
Furthermore, budding interest in the upcoming Bitcoin halving event has certainly generated outsize attention for crypto miners. We're now months away from this halving event, in which Bitcoin mining rewards will be halved per block produced. While that shouldn't be a good thing for crypto miners (and probably won't be for the sector as a whole), it does mean that a race is on for market share right now. Investors appear to believe that CleanSpark, Bit Digital, and Bitfarms may be the way to play this sector long-term, judging by these stocks' price movements of late.
Now what
Many investors may continue to view Bitcoin miners as tools or vehicles to gain even greater exposure to the price of Bitcoin. As such, it appears the market is taking an increasingly bullish view on where the price of Bitcoin could be headed (which makes sense, given its upcoming halving).
That said, it's also true that when Bitcoin declines, these crypto miners often see outsize losses.
I think it's going to be increasingly difficult for investors to pick the winners and losers in the race for Bitcoin mining market share. Thus, this is a sector that may be too volatile for most, and it may simply make more sense to own Bitcoin (for those who are bullish). That said, given the moves many of these Bitcoin-related stocks make on a daily basis, this is certainly a sector to watch, particularly for those looking to trade or invest based on momentum.
