Bitcoin is back over $60,000 and the recent 2024 halving event has sparked public interest in crypto once again. But you don’t need to buy crypto directly to enjoy the benefits of rising crypto markets.
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A huge boost to the market occurred in January of 2024, with the recent approval of spot Bitcoin ETFs. This led to a market rally that pushed Bitcoin to new all-time highs before pulling back a bit. But the rest of the crypto market has rallied as well, pushing the market cap of crypto over $2 trillion for the first time since 2022.
While investing in crypto is still a risky, speculative investment, there are companies that offer crypto market exposure without having to buy crypto directly.
10 Best Cryptocurrency Stocks To Buy
| Stock | Market Cap |
|---|---|
| Coinbase Global Inc. (COIN) | $63.13 billion |
| NVIDIA Corporation (NVDA) | $2.98 trillion |
| Advanced Micro Devices Inc. (AMD) | $269.56 billion |
| Block (SQ) | $40.97 billion |
| PayPal Holdings, Inc. (PYPL) | $70.1 billion |
| Marathon Digital Holdings Inc. (MARA) | $5.88 billion |
| Riot Blockchain Inc. (RIOT) | $2.93 billion |
| MicroStrategy Inc. (MSTR) | $29.38 billion |
| CME Group Inc. (CME) | $72.54 billion |
| iShares Bitcoin Trust (IBIT) | $19.5 billion (net assets) |
Here are the top cryptocurrency stocks you may want to add to your portfolio.
1. Coinbase Global Inc. (COIN)
Coinbase is one of the top cryptocurrency exchanges, with over 110 million verified users. In April 2021, it became a publicly-traded company through its initial public offering. Coinbase is still the largest exchange available to U.S. investors, and has no close competitors in terms of daily trading volume and number of markets.
The crypto trading platform allows users to buy and sell digital assets, including Bitcoin, Ethereum, Solana, Cardano, and hundreds of other coins, at a nominal fee. While Coinbase is a crypto trading platform, it has several other features that make it one of the best cryptocurrency stocks to buy.
Derivatives Platform
Coinbase recently launched a derivatives platform, allowing traders to buy and sell Bitcoin and other cryptocurrency futures contracts. This also allows Coinbase to offer margin accounts by collecting interest from traders while positions are open. This is another revenue stream that can help continue making Coinbase profitable during the recent Bitcoin bull run.
USDC Stablecoin
Coinbase launched the USDC stablecoin with Circle, and it can generate revenue by backing USDC with cash-equivalent investments. This continues to be a great income source for Coinbase, which also recently purchased a stake in Circle.
2. NVIDIA Corporation (NVDA)
Nvidia is a graphics processing unit manufacturer that produces chips used in everyday devices. However, the company is best known for its high-end video gaming graphics cards. Nvidia has been one of the hottest stocks of 2024 already, but it may have more upside thanks to Bitcoin.
Nvidia’s CMP HX card was designed for professional cryptocurrency mining. Crypto mining has picked up in 2024, especially since Bitcoin rewards were recently cut in half–making it more difficult to become a profitable miner.
The company has added a mining limiter to newly released cards to prevent future mining-related runs on its product. However, as the creator of technology that supports cryptocurrency mining and plays an integral part in the PC graphics card industry overall, Nvidia is a solid crypto investment.
3. Advanced Micro Devices Inc. (AMD)
Like Nvidia, AMD is among the leading designers of graphics processing units and central processing units used in crypto mining. While it does not deal with cryptocurrencies directly, it is responsible for high-end graphics cards that power mining of some crypto assets.
While NVIDIA is still the king of crypto GPUs, AMD has been known to work well for mining some specific cryptocurrencies. A recent report by PC Magazine showcases that certain AMD graphics cards are becoming profitable for mining alt-coins (not Bitcoin).
Combined with AMDs position as an industry leader in chip technology, AMD may be a worthy investment now and in the future.
4. Block (SQ)
The introduction of digital payment methods was mainly aimed at eliminating central intermediaries and reducing costs for both consumers and businesses. Block — formerly Square — is focused on blockchain, enabling users to buy and hold cryptocurrencies in a digital wallet.
Block has made advancements by allowing Bitcoin trading on its Cash App platform. The company aims to foster Bitcoin use among its users and businesses and is set to become a leading platform for crypto transactions between companies and their customers.
Cash App also offers stocks trading and a high-yield savings account, growing the platform from the peer-to-peer payment system to an investing and savings platform. With an expansion into cryptocurrency and a focus on blockchain, Block stock may be a worthwhile investment for experienced or beginner crypto venturers.
5. PayPal Holdings, Inc.
PayPal is at the forefront of the digital payment revolution, and its goal is to leverage technology to simplify commerce and make financial services more convenient and affordable for its customers.
A forerunner of Cash App, PayPal is a global online payment system. It allows peer-to-peer money transfers through its mobile app, Venmo, along with several other ways for people to get paid. In late 2020, PayPal unlocked crypto trading. Venmo became one of the leading crypto platforms by allowing the trading of Bitcoin, Bitcoin Cash, Ethereum and Litecoin.
Like many other crypto-focused tech companies, PayPal stock was decimated in 2022. Unfortunately, it didn’t recover much in 2023. PayPal revenue is on the rise–and with a new CEO in place as of August 2023–investors are hoping profits will rise as well.
6. Marathon Digital Holdings Inc. (MARA)
Marathon Digital Holdings is currently one of the largest Bitcoin mining companies in the U.S. Mining enables the verification of transactions, the security of the blockchain and the addition of new coins and tokens into the market.
MARA helps people gain exposure to Bitcoin without holding the asset directly and it aims to build the largest Bitcoin mining operation at the lowest energy cost possible. The company focuses on sustainability and environmental protection, so it uses renewable energy providers in its operations.
Marathon boasts about 239,000 active Bitcoin miners as of May 1, and as of Feb. 28, it had a total of over 17,000 bitcoins, including over 16,000 unrestricted bitcoins.
The company’s growth can be attributed to its investment in miners to increase the speed of Bitcoin mining to make production a lot more efficient and profitable. It recently increased its “hash rate” to over 25 EH/s with a goal of doubling again by 2025.
7. Riot Blockchain Inc. (RIOT)
Riot Blockchain, another large Bitcoin mining company, is focused on expanding its operations by increasing its Bitcoin mining hash rate and infrastructure capacity, according to the company’s website. Riot has a couple of joint ventures, internally developed businesses and other investments in the blockchain sector.
The company is primarily focused on bitcoin and blockchain technology in general, and recently launched a new Bitcoin mining facility in April 2024. This increased capacity can help drive more production–which should be a boon in light of the Bitcoin 50% reduction in rewards during the halving event.
As a company directly engaged in cryptocurrency, Riot is a riskier investment than some of the companies on this list. However, with its recent expansion and continued focus on efficiency, it could grow along with the price of Bitcoin in the coming years.
8. MicroStrategy Inc. (MSTR)
MicroStrategy Incorporated is a business intelligence and analytics solutions company. The company’s operations involve the design, development, marketing and sales of its software platforms. This is mainly done through cloud subscriptions, licensing arrangements and other related services.
MicroStrategy helps its customers optimize and maintain their business intelligence platforms. Customers come from a wide range of industries, including consulting, technology, banking, finance, insurance, telecommunications and manufacturing.
But MicroStrategy is far more popular for its involvement in cryptocurrency, stemming from its dynamic owner, Michael Saylor. Saylor is a self-proclaimed Bitcoin Maximalist, with personal bitcoin holdings worth billions. He has used MicroStrategy funds and borrowed funds to invest heavily into Bitcoin for the company as well.
According to the MicroStrategy website, it currently holds 214,400 bitcoin at a total cost of $7.54 billion, or $35,180 per bitcoin, as of April 26, 2024. While a company normally is valued based on its product and service offerings, revenue, and profits, Microstrategy is a unique case that holds extra value because of how much it has invested directly into Bitcoin.
9. CME Group Inc. (CME)
CME Group is the world’s largest derivatives marketplace. It aims to deliver new and innovative ways of managing risk and improving performance. The company allows you to trade futures and a diversified number of assets, including stocks and currencies, across several industries. This is where cryptocurrency comes in.
CME Group established a market for “micro” bitcoin futures options in 2017. Today, Bitcoin and Ether futures, as well as micro futures and options are available, allowing businesses and individuals to mitigate the risk of rapid changes in cryptocurrency prices.
While crypto derivatives are still a relatively small market for CME, more crypto assets will likely be added to the exchange.
10. iShares Bitcoin Trust (IBIT)
January 2024 saw the launch of 11 new spot Bitcoin ETFs, allowing investors to purchase an ETF that is purely backed by Bitcoin. This launch allowed large ETF issuers like Blackrock and Fidelity to launch funds, quickly eating up the market share of other bitcoin stocks like Grayscale Bitcoin Trust.
iShare Bitcoin Trust (IBIT) has nearly overtaken Grayscale as the largest spot Bitcoin ETF on the market–partly due to the Blackrock name, but mostly due to much lower expense ratios than Grayscale.
While the Grayscale spot bitcoin ETF lowered its expense ratio from 2.00% down to 1.50% when it converted to a spot Bitcoin ETF in January–iShares Bitcoin Trust only charges a miniscule 0.12% expense ratio. This is a win for investors and will most likely knock Grayscale off the top spot soon.
Good To Know
As with any other investment, there’s no guarantee of which asset will generate returns, and cryptocurrency stocks are no exception. Plus, cryptocurrencies are highly volatile, and they could potentially impact the prices of companies involved in blockchain technology.
Final Take
Many investors shy away from crypto due to volatility, but don’t let that deter you from this investment opportunity. With more companies embracing blockchain technology, you can benefit indirectly by purchasing stocks involved in the crypto space.
FAQ
Still on the fence about investing in cryptocurrency stock? Here’s some more information to help you decide if it’s the right investment for you.
- What is the best crypto stock to buy?
- More cautious investors might consider a well-established company like PayPal or Nvidia, both of which are leaders in their respective markets and offer the added benefit of having been early entries into the cryptocurrency space. Investors willing to take a little more risk might consider Coinbase Global or Marathon Digital Holdings Inc.
- The best crypto stock for a particular investor depends on their risk tolerance and investment objectives.
- Are crypto stocks a good investment?
- Crypto stocks could be a good long-term investment, especially if you invest in companies that don’t rely strictly on cryptocurrency to survive. Always research companies before you invest, and never invest more than you can afford to lose.
- What is the best cryptocurrency to invest in for 2024?
- With over 100,000 coins available, it’s impossible to identify one as being better than all of the others. However, Bitcoin could be a good investment because it’s widely accepted. Coins for newer blockchains operating at the forefront of smart contracts and
- How do I invest in cryptocurrency stocks?
- Before you can invest, you’ll need to open a brokerage account. You can do that through a traditional broker like Schwab or through an app, such as Robinhood. Follow the prompts to complete the application, and then indicate how you’d like to fund the account. Once your account has been funded, you can start buying and selling stocks.
- Research stocks using information provided by your broker, company websites and news reports to decide which you’d like to purchase. Then select your choice on the broker’s site or in the app and select the “buy” or “trade” button or link. Enter the number of shares you want to purchase — or the dollar amount you want to spend on fractional shares — and submit your order.
Lydia Kibet and Daria Uhlig contributed to the reporting for this article.
Information is accurate as of June 6, 2024. Data was sourced from Yahoo Finance.
This article was originally published by a www.gobankingrates.com . Read the Original article here. .