Nalak Das
·4 min read
The largest cryptocurrency Bitcoin (BTC), has resumed its northward journey after a brief pause last week. The cryptocurrency closed Mar 4, at 68,411.81, marking its highest level since November 2021. Bitcoin posted its all-time high at 68,982.20 in November 2021.
The cryptocurrency market started 2024 on a positive note after an impressive rally last year. The much-hyped reformation in the cryptocurrency space took place on Jan 10. The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) approved rule changes to allow the creation of spot bitcoin exchange-traded funds (ETFs). As many as 11 spot Bitcoin ETFs were launched in January.
After soaring 157% in 2023, Bitcoin has railed more than 21% year to date. Bitcoin continues to hold a lot of potential. The SEC’s latest decision is likely to turn out to be a landmark, positioning the entire crypto space as an integral component of mainstream finance.
The game-changing decision of the SEC will allow individuals, money managers and other financial institutions to get exposure to the world’s largest cryptocurrency without having to own it.
Moreover, the next Bitcoin halving will occur in April 2024. When this occurs, the reward for mining new blocks is halved, making it more challenging for miners to earn net Bitcoins. Historically, this event has led to increased scarcity and has driven up the value of Bitcoin due to reduced supply.
Our Top Picks
We have narrowed our search to five crypto-oriented stocks that have strong potential for 2024. Each of our picks carries either a Zacks Rank #1 (Strong Buy) or (Buy). You can see the complete list of today’s Zacks #1 Rank stocks here.
The chart below shows the price performance of our five picks year to date.
Image Source: Zacks Investment Research
NVIDIA Corp. NVDA is a semiconductor industry giant and one of the biggest success stories of 2023. As a leading designer of graphic processing units (GPUs), the NVDA stock usually soars on a booming crypto market. This is because GPUs are pivotal to data centers, artificial intelligence, and the creation of crypto assets.
Zacks Rank #1 NVIDIA’s expected earnings growth rate for the current year is 79.2% (ending January 2025). The Zacks Consensus Estimate for its current-year earnings has improved 16.4% over the last 30 days.
Coinbase Global Inc. COIN provides financial infrastructure and technology for the crypto economy in the United States and internationally. COIN offers the primary financial account in the crypto space for consumers, a marketplace with a pool of liquidity for transacting in crypto assets for institutions; and technology and services that enable developers to build crypto-based applications and securely accept crypto assets as payment.
Zacks Rank #1 Coinbase Global has an expected earnings growth rate of more than 100% for the current year. The Zacks Consensus Estimate for current-year earnings has improved more than 100% over the last 30 days.
CleanSpark Inc. CLSK operates as a bitcoin miner in the Americas. CLSK owns and operates data centers that primarily run on low-carbon power. CLSK’s infrastructure supports Bitcoin, a digital commodity and a tool for financial independence and inclusion.
Zacks Rank #2 CleanSpark has an expected earnings growth rate of 89.2% for the current year (ending September 2024). The Zacks Consensus Estimate for current-year earnings has improved more than 100% over the last seven days.
Block Inc. SQ is an online digital and mobile payment platform for consumers and merchants and is the parent company of Square and Cash App. The users of Cash App can buy, sell, send and receive Bitcoin. In addition, SQ’s decentralized tbd platform allows developers to build decentralized finance applications to run on programmable blockchains. SQ is also one of the largest Bitcoin investors.
Zacks Rank #2 Block has an expected earnings growth rate of 62.2% for the current year. The Zacks Consensus Estimate for current-year earnings has improved 1% over the last 60 days.
BlackRock Inc. BLK is one of the world’s largest publicly owned investment managers. BLK was one of the first companies from the traditional market to join the Bitcoin ETF race in June 2023. BlackRock’s iShares Bitcoin Trust has crossed $10 billion in assets under management in less than two months.
Zacks Rank #2 BlackRock has an expected earnings growth rate of 4.9% for the current year. The Zacks Consensus Estimate for current-year earnings has improved 0.1% over the last 30 days.
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BlackRock, Inc. (BLK) : Free Stock Analysis Report
NVIDIA Corporation (NVDA) : Free Stock Analysis Report
Block, Inc. (SQ) : Free Stock Analysis Report
Cleanspark, Inc. (CLSK) : Free Stock Analysis Report
Coinbase Global, Inc. (COIN) : Free Stock Analysis Report
