Listed on the traditional stock exchange NASDAQ, Riot Blockchain Inc. is primarily a cryptocurrency mining operation headquarted in Colorado, USA.

Their share price, listed under the ticker symbol RIOT, can be seen to mirror and even magnify the sentiment surrounding the underlying asset on which their business depends - Bitcoin (BTC).

Having pushed the envelope to around $30 per share at the peak of the crypto bull run in January 2018, RIOT plummeted in correlation with the market and currently trades at less than a dollar.

BTC Miners

Although holding non-controlling investments in blockchain technology companies - such as Canada's Coinsquare Exchange and crypto accounting and auditing provider Verady - Riot are very much focused on their own Bitcoin mining operation based in Oklahoma City.

The latest press release from the company has shown an impressive surge in BTC output.

Last month, Riot mined 102 BTC which was a substantial 126% increase on the 45 BTC produced in December 2019.

It is suggested that much of the increase can be put down to the deployment of approximately 4,000 new Bitmain S17 miners.

When coupled with a small amount of S9 miners the company already holds, the machines are capable of "...an aggregate hashing power capacity of 248 Petahash per second."

(For those, like me, who need a quick recap on the relative size of mega, giga, tera, peta, exa, zetta, yotta, etc hashing - BitcoinStackExchange provide a handy guide)

The company report that as of 31 March, their Bitcoin inventory stands at 819 BTC, an increase of 14% from the previous month.

Any interest?

None of the above is meant as an inducement to invest in the stock or in anyway implies financial advice but I confess Riot has peeked my interest.

While I, and I suspect most users of this site, would prefer to hold the real BTC in my own possession and see finance 1.0 options such as stocks as a rigged game, RIOT shares may just be worth a second look to those who are forced to invest in government run schemes such as self-directed IRAs in the USA or Self invested pension plans (SIPPs) in the U.K.

As always, recommended to do your own research (in cryptos, stocks, art, life partner, etc) before investing.