AftertheBitcoinhalvingtookplaceinApril,majorBitcoinminershaveincreasinglystartedchoosingoneoftwostrategies—eitherhodltheBTCtheymineorgearupwithartificialintelligence(AI).TheBTChalvingslashestheearingsofminersbyhalfeveryfouryears—adeflationarymechanismthatalsohelpsmaintainthehardcapof21millionBitcoin.
PublicminerslikeMARAHoldings,RiotPlatforms,andCleanSparkareholdingtheBTCtheymineinthehopethatitsvaluewillincreaseovertime.
WolfieZhao,ananalystatresearchfirmTheMinerMag,toldBloomberg:
“ByavoidingtheimmediatesaleofBitcoinataloss,they[miners]cankeeppotentiallossesunrealizedandpositionthemselvesforgainsifabullmarketmaterializes.”
However,thestrategythatispopularwithcryptominingstocktradersisaninvestmentinAI.Forinstance,thestockofCoreScientificnearlyquadrupledsinceitannouncedthesigningofmulti-billion-dollarcontractswithAIstartupCoreWeave.CoreScientificemergedfrombankruptcywithasuccessfulrestructuringearlierthisyear.
Atthesametime,stocksofMARAandRiot,whoarebettingonholdingBTC,havedroppedby20%and36%,respectively,thisyear.Similarly,sharesofIrisEnergyandBitDigital,whichhavebeeninvestinginAI,havebeenfaringbetterthanthoseholdingBTC.
ThestrategyofholdingBTCseemsfeasiblesinceminerslikeMARAandCleanSparkrunprofitableoperations.Besides,inamarketwithrisingBitcoinprices,thestrategyappearstobeagoodone.
Infact,withthemarketrising,Bitcoinminershaveagainstartedborrowingandissuingmoreshares.AndthoselikeMARAareusingthefundstobuymorecrypto,followinginthefootstepsofMicroStrategy.
However,EthanVera,chiefoperatingofficeratLuxorTechnology,aBitcoinminingsoftwareandservicesfirm,soundedawarning.Hesaid:
“InarisingBitcoinpriceenvironment,itisgoingtobeanextremelysuccessfulstrategy,butit’llbeadisasterifBitcoinpricesplummet…Youwillcontinuetoseenegativeprofitsandtheyarehidinghowbadtheindustryisrightnowandhowbadtheiroperationsarebydilutingshareholdersandbuyingnewermachines.”
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