Shares of Crypto Miner Riot Blockchain Jump 7% After Cantor Starts Coverage

Shares of crypto mining steadfast Riot Blockchain (RIOT) surged connected Tuesday, closing implicit 7% higher, aft broker Cantor Fitzgerald initiated sum with an “overweight” standing and a terms people of $45. However, shares tumbled 12% connected Wednesday arsenic the price of bitcoin fell respective percent.

• Cantor sees Riot arsenic 1 of the champion ways for investors to summation vulnerability to bitcoin without having to ain the integer plus directly, arsenic the mining institution holds astir of the mined coins connected its equilibrium sheet.

• The broker said that Riot is successful an “unique position” to proceed to triumph marketplace stock successful the coming years. The miner plans to much than treble its mining capableness to 750 MW by the 2nd 4th of 2022, and to triple its hashrate to 9 EH/s by twelvemonth end, Cantor noted successful its report.

• The miner’s hashrate is the 2nd highest successful the industry, the study added.

• Riot’s acquisition of Whinstone gives it a important vantage implicit its peers due to the fact that it reduces the miner’s reliance connected 3rd enactment hosting providers, Cantor said. The acquisition besides makes it much vertically integrated and gives the steadfast accrued power implicit its mining infrastructure and operating costs, the broker added.

• The Nasdaq-listed mining institution acquired Whinstone from Northern Data AG successful April for a full worth of $651 cardinal successful currency and shares.

• On Wednesday, Riot announced that it had mined 425 bitcoins successful December, up 334% from 98 bitcoins a twelvemonth ago, and 3,812 bitcoins successful each of 2021, up 269% from 1,033 successful 2021. At the extremity of 2021, Riot owned 4,889 bitcoins, worthy astir $213 cardinal astatine existent prices.

• That compared to 1,044 bitcoin mined successful December and 5,769 mined successful 2021 by Core Scientific, 363 bitcoins mined successful December and 3,452 successful 2021 by Bitfarms (BITF) and 484.5 bitcoins mined successful December and 3,197 successful 2021 by Marathon Digital (MARA).

UPDATE (Jan. 5, 22:55 UTC): Updated with Riot’s stock show connected Wednesday, and Riot and its rivals’ December and afloat twelvemonth 2021 bitcoin accumulation numbers.