Today marks the first day of Wall Street trading for the year of 2022, and to nobody’s surprise, cryptocurrency is all the rage. It looks like investing trends are, for the time being, mirroring an interest in cryptocurrency mining. After all, today marks a special new milestone for Bitcoin (CCC:BTC-USD). As Bitcoin mining evidently continues to ramp up, plays like Marathon Digital Holdings (NASDAQ:MARA) are coming into the fold once more. Now, MARA stock is one of the hottest topics getting into the week.
Crypto mining wasn’t an industry with an easygoing 2021. In fact, the market saw huge volatility alongside the crypto asset class, with global regulations sowing uncertainty about the future of these plays. Most notable is China’s mid-year crackdown on crypto trading and crypto mining; the country banned the activity within its borders. The country had, up until this point, housed a significant majority of the world’s crypto-mining activity.
As such, many of these mining plays have been facing a period of homelessness, with many migrating to countries west of China to set up shop. Meanwhile, companies based in the U.S., Canada and even Iceland have borne the benefit of this ban, upping their mining capabilities and taking some more of this market share.
MARA Stock Begins 2022 in the Green as BTC Hashrate Booms
One of the miners that is really coming to the forefront of investors’ attention is Marathon Digital’s MARA stock. Marathon is rapidly becoming one of the largest crypto-mining powerhouses on Wall Street, accumulating nearly $3.5 billion in market capitalization. Yet, MARA stock has been facing a fair bit of volatility in recent weeks. MARA had been on a steep decline since Dec. 8, ultimately bottoming out at under $32.
Since hitting this month-low, the stock is struggling to regain footing. But today, things look like they’re turning around. That’s because Bitcoin mining is reportedly surging back to pre-crackdown levels and beyond. As CoinDesk reports, the Bitcoin’s hashrate is higher today than ever before. Hashrate is the barometer of the health of the mining industry; high hashrate means there is a lot of computational power going into minting new BTC.
With mining booming at levels previously unseen, MARA stock is shaking off year-end volatility to begin the new year. Much to the appreciation of MARA holders, the stock is up over 3% on the new year’s first day of trading.
On the date of publication, Brenden Rearick did not have (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.
