Bitcoin (BTC-USD) prices seem to want to settle somewhere in the mid to upper $60,000s. Prices have continued to test those levels over the past few weeks. We are also quickly approaching the next Bitcoin halving. The run-up in price is creating a grouping of must-own crypto mining stocks for blockbuster returns.
Mining rewards will decline following the upcoming Bitcoin halving. That should make existing coins more valuable based on the principle of scarcity. It should also make the companies skilled in mining Bitcoin more valuable.
Crypto mining is essentially confined to Bitcoin. Although other mining firms focus on different assets, Bitcoin is king. Therefore, the best crypto mining stocks to own will focus on it.
Marathon Digital Holdings (MARA)
Marathon Digital Holdings (NASDAQ:MARA) is perhaps the best-known crypto mining stock of all. Its shares are among the most well-established by price and currently trade around $20. However, they are quite volatile and have traded between $15 and $31 in 2024.
As of March 5, Marathon Digital Holdings controlled 16,930 Bitcoin. That equated to a cash and Bitcoin value of approximately $1.5 billion for the firm. That is impressive, given how much BTC prices have risen in the past.
Investors should also take note of how dramatically Marathon Digital Holdings has increased mining production. The company mined 4,144 Bitcoin in all of 2022. That figure more than tripled to 12,852 Bitcoin in 2023. Thus, the narrative surrounding Marathon Digital Holdings is as much about the dramatic rise in Bitcoin prices as it is about the firm’s ability to mine those assets. That should continue to make MARA shares valuable.
CleanSpark (CLSK)
CleanSpark (NASDAQ:CLSK) is a differentiated crypto mining stock worth owning for investors who believe in the sector. Crypto mining is well known to be highly energy intensive. Bitcoin has faced a lot of criticism in the past for that reason. Some investors worry that those intense energy demands will contribute to global warming. Thus, some investors avoid investing in Bitcoin when they might have otherwise.
That’s where CleanSpark comes in. Its data centers run primarily on low-carbon power sources. That narrative will continue to make CleanSpark interesting to sustainable investors.
The company mined 806 Bitcoin in March. That represented a 24% increase sequentially over February. The company held 5,021 Bitcoin at that point.
CleanSpark brought additional production sites online during that period. Of the 5,021 Bitcoin clean spark holds, 2,031 were mined during the first three months of 2024. The company is clearly making an effort to carve out a larger position overall, which could logically send its share price higher.
Bitdeer Technologies (BTDR)
Bitdeer Technologies (NASDAQ:BTDR) recently released results showing it missed revenue and EPS estimates during the 4th quarter. The negative results took share prices from $9 down to about $6. However, there were plenty of positives to be found in that earnings report.
Revenues grew, and net losses narrowed. Those two metrics are essentially the most basic but important when considering the health of a given company. Further, Bitdeer increased its overall hash rate by 50% during 2023.
I’ve highlighted this fact before, but it bears repeating: Bitdeer is by far the lowest all-in cost Bitcoin miner. Sooner or later that should allow the company to more easily find solid business operations.
Bitdeer may have lost a bit of shine due to the disappointing earnings report, but it’s still the most efficient miner overall. If Bitcoin prices fall again, Bitdeer shares will immediately look that much more attractive.
On the date of publication, Alex Sirois did not hold (either directly or indirectly) any positions in the securities mentioned in this article. The opinions expressed in this article are those of the writer, subject to the InvestorPlace.com Publishing Guidelines.
