Bitcoin has had a very positive 2023 in terms of its price, with an increase of 162% in 12 months. However, investing in shares of companies dedicated to Bitcoin mining would have been even more profitable. Some of them appreciated more than 400%, and several doubled their share prices.
The podium of the Bitcoin mining companies that appreciated the most on the stock markets is made up of Marathon Digital Holdings (MARA ), Bitfarms (NITF ) and Cipher Mining (CIFR ).
MARA shares went from being worth $4.1 in January to $22.1 at the close of this note. The increase is equivalent to 439% of its initial value. Meanwhile, BITF is a stock that is 403% more expensive than in January, as its value grew from $0.54 per share to $2.72. The trinomial of the most prominent miners on the stock market is completed by CIFR, a stock that went from worth $0.77 to $3.83. That is, it increased by 397%.
Thus, over the course of a year, an investor who bought shares of any of these companies would have made significantly more money than someone who bought bitcoin. The cryptocurrency was trading at $16,615 after the New Year toast, but is approaching its fifteenth Christmas with a market value of $43,810.
The potential approval of a bitcoin ETF in the United States fueled the bullish trend in the final months of 2023. Likewise, the halving that will occur in April 2024 will reduce the issuance of the cryptocurrency; It is an event that generates expectations because historically it has had a positive impact on the value of bitcoin.
The Bitcoin mining companies that saw their shares skyrocket in 2023 were not just three. There were others that had smaller, but equally significant increases.
I am talking, for example, about Bit Digital (BTBT), whose shares were listed at USD 0.7 and are now worth $3.33. The increase in this case was 356%. A similar situation is that of Northern Data (NB2.DE), whose shares on the Frankfurt Stock Exchange rose from 6 euros (EUR) to 25.5 of the same currency. That is, they increased by 325%.
On the other hand, it is worth highlighting the cases of Riot Platforms (RIOT), which grew by 285% in the stock market (from $4.28 to 16.5); and Hut 8 Digital (HUT), with a 175% appreciation in its shares (from $4.5 to 12.4). Hive Digital Technologies (HIVE) saw a similar increase of 148%, with shares rising from $1.8 to $4.47.
Other companies with a positive balance on the stock markets during 2023 were Argo Blockchain (ARBK), with an increase of 65% and a price of $2.35 at the close of this note; and Canaan (CAN), whose shares are up 12.7% and are worth $2.57 per unit as of this writing.
The good performance of mining company stocks during the year is based mainly on the high level of income that the industry recorded. There was a key factor in making this happen, and it was the Ordinals protocol, a method of recording information in Bitcoin transactions that led to the issuance of tokens and non-fungible tokens (NFTs) native to the network.
The effect of Ordinals on Bitcoin was repeated congestion during the year, given the high weight of transactions, called "registrations." The demand for space in the blocks led to more commissions being paid to occupy it , which directly benefited the miners.
