Here’s What You Missed in Crypto This Week

As bitcoin, ethereum and other cryptocurrencies get increasing attention from investors, Wall Street and its traditional banks continue to adjust to the shift. Catch up on this week’s top stories highlighting the intersection of these old guard and new school areas of finance with this recap compiled by The Fly.

INVESTOR GROUP NEARS DEAL TO BUY COINDESK: An investor group led by Matthew Roszak of Tally Capital and Peter Vessenes of Capital6 are near a $125M deal to buy cryptocurrency-focused media company CoinDesk, The Wall Street Journal’s Lauren Thomas and Vicky Ge Huang reported Thursday, citing people familiar with the matter. Digital Currency Group, CoinDesk’s parent, is expected to retain a stake in the media, events, data and indexes business as part of the agreement, which is set to be finalized in the coming weeks. CoinDesk’s current management is expected to stay in place, according to the report. (read more)

NASDAQ HALTS PLAN FOR CRYPTO CUSTODY BUSINESS: Nasdaq (NDAQ) is suspending its plan to introduce a cryptocurrency custodian business in the U.S. amid the rapidly-changing regulatory environment around the space, Bloomberg’s Yueqi Yang and Katherine Doherty reported Wednesday, citing remarks made by CEO Adena Friedman on the company’s Q2 earnings call. Nasdaq is also terminating efforts to pursue a license related to the business but will continue to develop crypto technology for clients. “We remain committed to supporting the evolution of the digital asset ecosystem in a variety of ways,” Friedman said. (read more)

COINBASE PRICE TARGET RAISE: Compass Point raised the firm’s price target on Coinbase (COIN) on Wednesday to $145 from $100 and kept a Buy rating on the shares. The firm, which is updating estimates ahead of Q2 earnings slated to be released after market close on August 3, noted that its Q2 revenue and adjusted EBITDA estimates have come down “slightly,” mostly driven by softer-than-expected crypto spot trading volumes, both for Coinbase and the market in general. However, the firm continues to see Coinbase as “especially well-positioned” to take market share in both spot and derivatives when trading volumes return, given its “sterling reputation and increasingly negative sentiment around its largest competitor, Binance.” (read more)

COMPASS POINT RAISES MINER TARGETS: Compass Point raised the firm’s price target on Stronghold Digital Mining (SDIG) on Thursday to $23.50 from $20 and kept a Buy rating on the shares. The firm is updating its estimates for the quarter to reflect its updated bitcoin price and global hash rate forecasts as all bitcoin miners in its coverage have reported bitcoin production for Q2. (read more)

Compass Point also raised the firm’s price target on Riot Platforms (RIOT) to $24 from $16 and kept a Buy rating on the shares. (read more) Additionally on Tuesday, BTIG analyst Gregory Lewis raised the firm’s price target on Riot to $22 from $12 and kept a Buy rating on the shares. Bitcoin has rebounded sharply year-to-date, averaging $31,000 in July, which is up 35% from the Q1 average price of $23,000 and up 10% from the 2022 average price, the analyst said. The bitcoin rally “looks to have legs with a new floor in place,” the firm contended. (read more)

Compass Point also raised the firm’s price target on Marathon Digital (MARA) to $21 from $13.50, (read more), on Bitfarms (BITF) to $4.50 from $3, (read more), on Argo Blockchain (ARBK) to $3.75 from $3, (read more) and on Iris Energy (IREN) to $24 from $13. (read more) The firm kept a Buy rating on all the names.

TERAWULF PLANS 7.9 EH/S EXPANSION: TeraWulf (WULF) announced Tuesday plans to expand its self-mining capacity to 7.9 EH/s by year end with the associated purchase of 18,500 of the next generation Antminer S19j XP bitcoin mining machines for a total price of $75M. After coupons and credits, the company currently expects to pay $53.4M, or $19.10 per terahash, for the miners. The new S19j XP machines will be deployed at the company’s Lake Mariner facility in New York where construction of Building 3, which will house 43 MW of capacity, is underway and targeted for completion by year-end. The infrastructure expansion and additional miners are expected to increase the company’s total self-mining hashrate by approximately 58%. The company has already paid the deposit on the new miners. According to the purchase agreement, the 18,500 S19j XPs are scheduled to be shipped by BITMAIN in equal monthly allotments in October, November, and December. “At TeraWulf, we continue to believe that all hash is not created equal. Our planned expansion with S19j XPs will further establish TeraWulf as one of the most efficient mining fleets in the sector with a fleet efficiency of 25.7 J/TH,” said COO Nazar Khan. (read more)

CRYPTO STOCK PLAYS: Publicly traded companies in the space include Bit Digital (BTBT), Coinbase, Core Scientific (CORZ), Greenidge Generation (GREE), Marathon Digital, MicroStrategy (MSTR), Riot Platforms, Stronghold Digital Mining and TeraWulf.

PRICE ACTION: As of time of writing, bitcoin dropped roughly 5% this week to $29,867 in U.S. dollars, according to CoinDesk.