Bitcoin and other top cryptocurrencies have been seeing a notable rally so far this year, which has also helped cryptocurrency-linked stocks surge as investors are increasing their bets on the cryptocurrency ecosystem. So much so these are outperforming the market’s benchmark index, the S&P 500.
As first reported by Bloomberg, companies like MGT Capital Investments and DPW Holdings, which run cryptocurrency mining operations, have surged in the last few days, with MGT rising little over 100% in these few days, and DPW rising 124%.
As of May 14, 2019, MGT is mining with 1,800 machines in Colorado Springs, pursuant to management agreements with our third-party investors, generating 22 Ph/s in hash power.#bitcoin #btc #bitcoinmining $MGTI pic.twitter.com/PkdhYjzCgn
— MGT Capital Investments (@MGTCI) May 16, 2019
Digging deeper, data from Yahoo Finance shows that companies with exposure to the cryptocurrency space, the so-called “Top Crypto Bets,” have appreciated by over 35.6% in the last 30 days, while the S&P 500 rose nearly 4% in the same period.
The organizations included in Yahoo Finance’s “Top Crypto Bets” list are 14 publicly traded companies with exposure to the cryptocurrency ecosystem. These include Microsoft, which has been accepting bitcoin payments since 2014, PayPal thanks to a partnership with Coinbase for free withdrawals for U.S. users and a blockchain-based reward system it launched for its employees.
It also includes firms heavily invested in the cryptocurrency space like Overstock, which has been accepting bitcoin since 2014 and whose tZero security trading platform went live earlier this year, as well as Square, whose Cash app has been onboarding cryptocurrency users while making them a profit, without charging fees.
While the performance of organizations like Microsoft is likely barely being influenced by bitcoin’s price, companies like Overstock have historically been influenced by it. Bitcoin itself has been recovering from last year’s bear market that saw it drop to a $3,200 low in December, and has recently surpassed the $13,400 mark.
At press time, BTC is trading at about $11,760 after dropping nearly 5% in the last 24-hour period, likely as a result of profit taking.
Behind the cryptocurrency’s performance so far this year are believed to be various factors, including Facebook’s push into the cryptocurrency space with its Libra coin. Geopolitical tensions between the U.S. and Iran, as well as the former’s trade war with China, are likely also seeing investors bet on BTC.
Bitcoin’s price may also be getting support form leading cryptocurrency exchange Binance booting U.S.-based traders to a U.S.-only platform it’s set to soon launch. The new platform will likely not have the number of altcoins Binance.com currently does, meaning traders may be selling their tokens for BTC while they can.
It’s worth noting Yahoo’s “Top Crypto Bets” list is an “editorial, curated list” created by Yahoo Finance’s reports, which used their expertise to “judge which companies have gotten involved enough in crypto to merit inclusion.”
