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.

COINBASE REGISTERED AS RESTRICTED DEALER IN CANADA: Coinbase (COIN) announced Thursday that it has been registered as a Restricted Dealer by the Canadian Securities Administrators. The company said, “This milestone, following its formal launch in August 2023, reinforces Coinbase’s commitment to Canada as a Go Deep market.” The registration is the culmination of months of work, starting in March 2023 when Coinbase signed an Enhanced Pre-Registration Undertaking that signified its dedication to regulatory compliance and operational excellence.  Throughout this process, Coinbase closely collaborated with Canadian regulators to establish a policy framework that serves as a global benchmark. Furthermore, Coinbase collaborated with Canadian banks, investment advisors, and pension funds to demonstrate its dedication to facilitating its successful navigation of the evolving digital asset realm. “This is a significant milestone in Coinbase’s journey in Canada,” said Lucas Matheson, CEO, Coinbase Canada. “We’re excited to continue working with stakeholders across Canada to accelerate the adoption of digital assets, foster economic empowerment, and reshape the financial system.” (read more)

Additionally, Oppenheimer raised the firm’s price target on Coinbase to $276 from $200 and kept an Outperform rating on the shares. The firm noted the adoption of digital assets continued after the approval of spot bitcoin ETFs in January. Oppenheimer estimates that Coinbase’s 1Q24 trading volume would be up 95% quarter-over-quarter and 107% year-over-year to $300B. More importantly, liquidity in this space has continued to increase, with the average market cap of USDC increasing 12% quarter-over-quarter to $28B. Some of the firm’s thesis has played out as expected. At this level of trading, Oppenheimer is cautious about the near-term volatility, but remains positive on the long-term adoption of blockchain technology. It believes Coinbase can be one of the beneficiaries for this long-tern trend. (read more)

On Tuesday, Keefe Bruyette raised the firm’s price target on Coinbase to $230 from $160 and kept a Market Perform rating on the shares. The firm raised its Coinbase estimates to reflect full quarter volumes, though it added it won’t know the split between retail and institutional transaction volumes until the company’s earnings print. (read more)

MICROSTRATEGY PRICE TARGET RAISE: BTIG raised the firm’s price target on MicroStrategy (MSTR) on Friday to $1,800 from $780 and kept a Buy rating on the shares. The stock has rallied 155% year-to-date, driven by the price of bitcoin rallying 50%, which benefits MicroStrategy’s corporate strategy of acquiring and holding bitcoin, accretive capital raises in the form of equity and convertible debt which has increased the number of bitcoin per share for equity holders, and the implied premium of the company’s bitcoin holdings within a sum-of-the-parts valuation analysis has increased to more than 2-times, compared to 1.5-times on average during the last year, the analyst said. BTIG thinks the implied premium of the company’s bitcoin holdings has settled into a new norm above 2-times. The firm also expects MicroStrategy to benefit from bitcoin catalysts during the coming year, specifically the bitcoin halving event estimated to take place this month. (read more)

GREENIDGE CONTINUES EXPANSION OF POWER CAPACITY: Greenidge Generation Holdings (GREE) announced Thursday that it continues to expand its U.S. footprint capacity and has secured access to 60 MW of low-cost power in South Carolina. This follows the company’s recently announced acquisition of 32.5 MW of mining capacity in Mississippi and 7.5 MW of mining capacity in North Dakota, bringing the total new power capacity added this past month to approximately 100 MW. Greenidge’s expansion in South Carolina flows from a new agreement for anticipated electric services of a peak electrical load of 60 MW to be developed on 20 acres of a 150-acre parcel of property owned in Spartanburg, South Carolina. In the coming months, Greenidge intends to leverage the site’s power capacity, optimal footprint and infrastructure for the development of a GPU data center, with plans to activate the site by June 2025. In tandem, Greenidge will also commission a study to evaluate the timing and cost associated with the potential addition of 250 MW on the remaining 130 acres of the property in South Carolina. In March, Greenidge produced approximately 130 bitcoin, of which 42 bitcoin were produced by Greenidge-owned miners and 88 were produced through datacenter hosting. Greenidge’s hash rate in March was approximately 2.62 EH/s, with 0.85 EH/s from Greenidge-owned miners and 1.77 EH/s from datacenter hosting. Greenidge’s hash rate is expected to increase to 2.87 EH/s as a result of ongoing deployment of over 2,700 of its miners. (read more)

HUT 8 PRICE TARGET LOWERED: Canaccord lowered the firm’s price target on Hut 8 Corp. (HUT) on Friday to $14 from $17.50 and kept a Buy rating on the shares. The firm said with the business combination with USBTC now complete, the new company is a much more diversified company with multiple revenue streams. (read more)

Meanwhile on Monday, Craig-Hallum raised the firm’s price target on Hut 8 Corp. to $12 from $10 and kept a Hold rating on the shares. New management, which the firm believes was a dramatic upgrade from the prior team, is poised to make the “right bets at the right time.” The new team has already shut down operations in Drumheller, cauterizing a painful wound for “old HUT” investors, Craig-Hallum noted. (read more)

BITCOIN DEPOT SURPASSES 8K SIGNED BITCOIN ATM LOCATIONS: Bitcoin Depot (BTM) announced Tuesday that it is set to surpass its goal of deploying 8,000 bitcoin ATMs a few months ahead of schedule, having already secured contracts for over 8,000 locations. In January and February, Bitcoin Depot signed over 1,600 total new locations to receive its bitcoin ATMs. Notably, since the start of the year, the company has expanded its operations into Puerto Rico, continued expansion of its franchise program, solidified its commitment to purchasing 900 new kiosks to grow its footprint, and forged a deployment partnership with a major convenience store retailer, paving the way for 940 new kiosk locations across 24 states. “This milestone showcases our team’s successful sales capabilities and reaffirms our status as the leading provider of Bitcoin accessibility throughout North America,” remarked Brandon Mintz, CEO. “As pioneers in this field, our commitment is to offer outstanding service and convenience, enabling our customers to effortlessly explore the digital financial ecosystem.” (read more)

Additionally on Thursday, Bitcoin Depot announced that it plans to expand its footprint internationally into Australia and ship 125 kiosks to the country in 2Q24. The company anticipates further expanding its global presence by offering its cash-to-bitcoin services to individuals across the biggest metropolitan cities in the country, such as Sydney, Melbourne, and Brisbane. (read more)

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

PRICE ACTION: As of time of writing, bitcoin dropped roughly 4% this week to $67,119 in U.S. dollars, according to CoinDesk.