Among the most amazing price-growth stories of 2021 so far is the most famous cryptocurrency, Bitcoin (CCC:BTC-USD). Less known but also compelling is Riot Blockchain (NASDAQ:RIOT) as the trading volume in RIOT stock has picked up quite a lot lately.
You might hear folks on financial message boards and chat rooms saying that RIOT stock is little more than a proxy for Bitcoin. In other words, they’ll claim that RIOT is just a way to track the Bitcoin price in your stock portfolio.
If you want to use RIOT stock as a Bitcoin replacement, that’s fine, but understand that there’s isn’t a one-to-one correlation. The price moves in RIOT won’t match those of Bitcoin all of the time.
But even beyond that, Riot Blockchain isn’t the same as Bitcoin. It’s a company with its own mission and business model, and when you learn more about it, you might like what you see.
RIOT Stock at a Glance
RIOT stock presents a perfect example of the “be right and sit tight” principle. If you truly believe in a company’s growth prospects, then there’s no need to panic-sell when the going gets tough.
As you might recall, the price of assets related to cryptocurrency and the blockchain soared in late 2017. After that, there was a crash in those asset prices.
This pattern of ascent and decline can be seen in RIOT stock. The share price soared from less than $5 to more than $28 in 2017. Then, RIOT fell all the way back down in 2018.
Yet, even if you had bought RIOT stock at $28 in late 2017, you could have still profited if you had just held on. That’s because in late 2020 and early 2021, RIOT staged an incredible comeback.
In fact, on Jan. 14, RIOT stock reached a 52-week high of $29.28. This just goes to show that patience can really pay off in the markets. Perhaps the bulls will now have a second chance to attain new highs, with the $35 and $40 levels looking much more realistic now.
Disrupting the Ledger
It’s easy to forget that the blockchain, at its core, was originally established as a digital ledger for decentralized monetary transactions.
That’s an arcane concept, and oftentimes it gets lost amid the hype over quick cryptocurrency profits. Riot Blockchain isn’t about fast profits; rather, it’s about a business that’s dedicated to keeping the Bitcoin ecosystem running smoothly and efficiently.
If you’re looking for a U.S.-based, publicly traded Bitcoin miner, Riot Blockchain is among the biggest and most established ones. The company is invested in premier blockchain-related companies, including Verady and Tesspay.
With these investments, Riot Blockchain is facilitating the disruption and transformation of the digital ledger, and of the monetary system at large.
Major Mining Power
Tesspay is developing a blockchain-based escrow service for telecom carriers. Meanwhile, Verady seeks to serve as a bridge between cryptocurrencies and traditional financial accounting.
So, Riot Blockchain’s strategic investments have the potential to change multiple market niches for the better. Impressive as that is, though, the company has something else going on that’s equally significant in the crypto space.
Namely, Riot Blockchain deploys some of the most powerful Bitcoin mining facilities in the world. In fact, the company just received and is already deploying 2,500 Bitmain S19 Pro Antminers.
Once the newly acquired mining equipment is fully deployed, Riot Blockchain will have a whopping 9,540 Antminers in operation.
The total hash rate capacity should then reach an estimated 842 petahash. This represents an increase in operational hash rate capacity of nearly 50%.
The Takeaway
If you’re going to invest in a Bitcoin mining company, why not put your money on one with plenty of hash power?
Riot Blockchain is an excellent choice for folks seeking to invest in the future of the digital ledger. So yes, you can own RIOT stock as a proxy for Bitcoin, but you can also buy the shares if you like the company — and there are certainly reasons to do so.
On the date of publication, neither Louis Navellier nor the InvestorPlace Research Staff member primarily responsible for this article held (either directly or indirectly) any positions in the securities mentioned in this article.
