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4 Crypto Stocks to Watch Ahead of Bitcoin Halving Event

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The cryptocurrency market had a solid first quarter, following a rally in 2023 that saw Bitcoin (BTC) hitting an all-time high. On Mar 14, Bitcoin, the world’s most popular cryptocurrency, hit an all-time high of $73,750, with its market capitalization surpassing $1.44 trillion.

Since then, Bitcoin declined below the $70,000 level before regaining some of the lost ground and traded at $70,657 on Mar 29. The drop in Bitcoin price raised concerns among some, but the decline is temporary as the cryptocurrency still has huge potential.

The recent decline, to a large extent, is due to profit booking and the slight uptick in inflation over the past two months. Even then, Bitcoin has gained more than 67% in the first quarter after jumping 157% in 2023.

The ongoing Bitcoin rally can be attributed to the much-awaited cryptocurrency reformation event in early January when the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) approved 11 spot Bitcoin exchange-traded funds (ETFs).

The decision was intended to integrate cryptocurrencies into mainstream finance to provide support to the sector in the long term.

Moreover, the Bitcoin halving event is set to begin this month. The event entails the halving of mining rewards for new blocks, historically leading to increased scarcity of Bitcoin. As a result, miners face greater difficulty in generating a net increase in Bitcoins. Traditionally, Bitcoin's value tends to surge during these periods of tightened supply.

Stocks to Watch

We have narrowed our search to four crypto-oriented stocks that have strong potential for 2024. Each of our picks carries either a Zacks Rank #1 (Strong Buy), 2(Buy) or 3 (Hold). You can see the complete list of today’s Zacks #1 Rank stocks here.

NVIDIA Corporation (NVDA - Free Report) is a major player in the semiconductor industry and was one of the standout success stories of 2023. As a leading designer of graphic processing units (GPUs), the value of the NVDA stock tends to surge in a thriving crypto market. This is primarily due to the crucial role that GPUs play in data centers, artificial intelligence and the mining or production of cryptocurrencies.

NVIDIA’s expected earnings growth rate for the current year is 84%. The Zacks Consensus Estimate for current-year earnings has improved 19.5% over the last 60 days. Currently, NVIDIA sports a Zacks Rank #1.

CME Group Inc.’s (CME - Free Report) options give the buyer of the call/put the right to buy/sell cryptocurrency futures contracts at a specific price at some future date. CME offers Bitcoin and ether options based on the exchange's cash-settled standard and micro-Bitcoin and Ethereum futures contracts.

CME Group’s expected earnings growth rate for the current year is 3.1%. The Zacks Consensus Estimate for current-year earnings has improved 1.9% over the last 60 days. CME presently has a Zacks Rank #3.

Coinbase Global, Inc. (COIN - Free Report) offers financial infrastructure and technology to support the global cryptocurrency economy. COIN provides a main financial account for consumers in the crypto space, a marketplace with liquidity for institutional crypto asset transactions, and technology and services for developers to build crypto-based applications and accept cryptocurrencies securely as payment.

Coinbase Global’s expected earnings growth rate for next year is 354.1%. The Zacks Consensus Estimate for current-year earnings has improved 500% over the last 60 days. Coinbase currently sports a Zacks Rank #1.

BlackRock, Inc. (BLK - Free Report) is one of the world’s largest investment managers and is publicly owned. BLK was one of the first companies from the traditional market to join the Bitcoin ETF race back in June 2023.

BlackRock’s expected earnings growth rate for the current year is 5.4%. The Zacks Consensus Estimate for current-year earnings has improved 1% over the last 60 days. BlackRock currently carries a Zacks Rank #3.

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