Author: Ben Strack, Blockworks; Translated by: Wu Zhu, Golden Finance
When researching cryptocurrency stocks, chatting with the co-portfolio manager of the Amplify Transformational Data Sharing ETF (BLOK), which has long focused on blockchain, is a great conversation.
Dan Weiskopf told me that he is now more optimistic about 2025 than he was at the end of 2023 about this year.
What is the main reason? As more pure cryptocurrency companies go public, investors will face 'crazy opportunities.'
Some expect that stablecoin issuer Circle may be the next company to go public.
Weiskopf pointed out that although there are several Bitcoin miners that may also go public, it is a crowded field. But BLOK would consider holding cloud computing company CoreWeave—one of the largest clients of mining giant Core Scientific.
Speaking of Core Scientific, this stock—up about 320% so far this year—is BLOK's largest holding (4.67%). Another miner of interest to Weiskopf is Hut 8—the ETF's sixth largest holding with a share of 4.16%.
"I think we are doing very well in repositioning and readjusting miners, seizing diversification opportunities in artificial intelligence," Mike Venuto noted.
Hut 8's weight is slightly higher than MicroStrategy's—this stock will enter the Nasdaq 100 index next week (I will provide more details on this on Monday). Weiskopf and co-principal Mike Venuto noted that BLOK began purchasing MSTR in August 2020 (when it was priced at $14).
MSTR's stock price trades around $350 (up over 400% so far this year). After MicroStrategy increased its Bitcoin holdings to 439,000 BTC, a benchmark analyst raised the stock's target price to $650 on Monday.
Nevertheless, Weiskopf and Venuto recently reduced BLOK's exposure to MSTR and CORZ, as these stocks 'rose above our weight limit,' they added. In other words, they are trimming their winners in hopes of achieving success elsewhere.
As BLOK managers await more IPOs in 2025, they began purchasing Japan's Metaplanet last month.
While more and more companies are adding BTC to their treasuries (approximately 60 according to Weiskopf's statistics), many of these companies are quite small. He stated that so-called 'zombie companies' are unlikely to rebound just because they purchased crypto assets.
"They make headlines, but do they have a real strategy?" Weiskopf added as he assesses these BTC purchasers.
He believes that Metaplanet is a company dedicated to these BTC purchases, which announced intentions to emulate MicroStrategy's efforts in April. The company stated this week that it will issue 5 billion yen in ordinary bonds to accelerate Bitcoin purchases.
Therefore, for those monitoring cryptocurrency stocks, BLOK holdings seem worth a look. Additionally, there are opportunities yet to emerge during what could become a transformative year in this field.
