Bitcoin is breaking records left and right, and Wall Street can’t ignore it any longer. The money’s on the miners now. The same miners who’ve been sweating it out all year, barely staying afloat, are suddenly the hot ticket, per CNBC’s data.
It’s like flipping a switch; one minute they’re getting crushed by regulations and stagnant BTC prices, and the next, they’re riding this massive post-election Bitcoin rally straight to the top. The big players – Riot Platforms, Marathon Digital, CleanSpark – are all on Wall Street’s radar again.
Here’s the thing: 2024 has been a rollercoaster for miners. Pure-play Bitcoin miners, the ones whose whole business depends on mining BTC, got hit hard this year. Bitcoin itself was on a slow, flat path, without much action.
And then the Bitcoin halving in April came along, slicing their rewards in half, just as they were struggling to stay profitable. Some companies even pivoted, moving part of their operations into AI data centers. They figured they’d chase AI money and get a little breathing room from BTC’s relentless grind.
But the pivot had its own downside. Investors turned their eyes to Bitcoin ETFs, which launched in January, offering an easier way to get BTC exposure. Mining stocks got shoved aside.
Bitcoin miners back in the game as prices soar
But now, everything’s flipped. Since Election Day, Bitcoin’s been tearing up the charts, smashing records, and hitting highs we haven’t seen before. It’s got analysts buzzing. Mike Colonnese from H.C. Wainwright didn’t hold back, calling it a “compelling buying opportunity” for those willing to bet on miners catching up.
“There’s massive upside potential,” he said, predicting a catch-up trade for the pure-play miners who didn’t pivot to AI and stayed true to BTC. Investors, he added, who want the most bang for their buck with Bitcoin are looking at these miners because they can give returns 2.5 times higher than BTC itself during bull markets. No joke.
Just look at Riot Platforms and Marathon. Riot’s down 10% for the year, but Marathon’s got a 3% gain, which isn’t bad considering how rough 2024 has been for them. But the biggest surprise? CleanSpark, which somehow pulled off a nearly 50% gain, right under everyone’s nose.
And the diversified players, like TeraWulf and Core Scientific, are making even more insane moves. TeraWulf is up a wild 246%, and Core Scientific has soared 407%. Iren, which used to be Iris Energy, jumped 68%.
Riot shot up over 16%. Marathon and CleanSpark didn’t lag behind, each jumping nearly 30%. Iren was up 16%, TeraWulf added more than 6%, and Core Scientific rose 3%.
Biden pushed for mandatory energy surveys and even floated a 30% excise tax on mining operations. It was a nightmare. Now, with Trump back in office, miners expect a lot more freedom. Trump has vowed to keep Bitcoin mining in the U.S., giving miners a real shot at expansion.
Wild price predictions fuel the hype
Everyone in the industry is throwing out wild predictions for Bitcoin. Matt Hougan, the Chief Investment Officer at Bitwise, is making big claims: he thinks Bitcoin could hit $100,000 by the end of this year. And that’s just his short-term guess. He’s got his eye on $200,000 by the end of 2025. “Bitcoin is now in price discovery mode after breaking through all-time highs,” he said.
He’s not alone. Quinn Thompson, founder of Lekker Capital, called the election win a “regime shift” for crypto. “The market is realizing just how big of a regime shift is underway,” he said.
Then there’s Chris Weston from Pepperstone Group, who’s calling the current market conditions “beast mode.” Traders, he says, are piling in, trying to ride this bullish wave as far as it goes. Zaheer Ebtikar from Split Capital thinks, “This has become not only a huge winner of the year but also an almost legitimized industry via the government.”
Joshua Lim, co-founder of Arbelos, says Bitcoin is in “price discovery,” meaning it’s in uncharted waters with room to keep climbing. He’s noticing more retail investors jumping in, feeding the rally with fresh capital.
But it’s not all sunshine and moonshots. The Crypto Fear & Greed Index is now in “Extreme Greed,” a level that often foreshadows corrections. Ali Martinez, a chart analyst, pointed out that Bitcoin’s soaring popularity might mean a big correction is coming. “A pullback of 30%-50% is possible,” he warned. Anyone jumping in now should know the risks.
The Biden administration may have been kicked out, but crypto is still waiting to see how Trump will handle the market’s next moves. And the market is vulnerable to manipulation because of its low liquidity compared to traditional markets. A few big players can move the market, especially during times of high trading or speculative mania such as this.
