The price of Bitcoin (BTC), which got rangebound over the past two-and-a-half months, is up again. Bitcoin has been on a rally over the past couple of weeks, surging more than 25%. The cryptocurrency jumped over 14% last week itself and briefly crossed the $35,000 mark.

Since then, it has been hovering over $34,500. The sudden surge comes as expectations that the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) will approve a Bitcoin exchange-traded fund (ETF) in the coming days.

The anticipated green light from the SEC for a Bitcoin ETF is expected to boost demand. This is likely to enable more traditional investors to hold Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies through conventional stock markets.

Moreover, it is predicted to draw fresh investments into the crypto industry, potentially leading to an increase in demand.

However, that’s not the only reason behind the recent Bitcoin rally. The rally comes amid mixed earnings results from a spate of big tech companies. Investors have lately been ditching the stock market to invest in cryptocurrencies.

During uncertain times, investors tend to gravitate towards safer, less speculative options. Bitcoin, being the most trusted among all cryptocurrencies, has been benefiting the most from this situation.

Although the cryptocurrency market is not generally regarded as stable or secure, even within this sphere, investors often seek refuge in Bitcoin during periods of surges or rallies in the crypto market.

Stocks in Focus

BlackRock, Inc. BLK 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 2.2%. The Zacks Consensus Estimate for current-year earnings has improved 1.9% over the last 60 days. BlackRock presently carries a Zacks Rank #3 (Hold). You can see the complete list of today’s Zacks #1 Rank (Strong Buy) stocks here.

NVIDIA Corporation NVDA is a major player in the semiconductor industry and has been 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 221.6%. The Zacks Consensus Estimate for current-year earnings has improved 0.7% over the last 60 days. NVIDIA presently sports a Zacks Rank #1.

Coinbase Global, Inc. COIN 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 the current year is 84.6%. The Zacks Consensus Estimate for current-year earnings has improved 1.1% over the last 60 days. Coinbase currently has a Zacks Rank #3.

Block Inc. SQ is an online digital and mobile payment platform for consumers and merchants and is the parent company of Square and Cash App. The users of Cash App can buy, sell, send and receive Bitcoin. In addition, SQ’s decentralized tbd platform allows developers to build decentralized finance applications to run on programmable blockchains. SQ is also one of the largest Bitcoin investors.

Block has an expected earnings growth rate of 69% for the current year. The Zacks Consensus Estimate for current-year earnings has improved 0.6% over the last 60 days. SQ currently carries a Zacks Rank #2 (Buy).

Interactive Brokers Group, Inc. IBKR is a global automated electronic broker. IBKR executes, processes and trades in cryptocurrencies, which include Bitcoin.

Interactive Brokers Group has an expected earnings growth rate of 41% for the current year. The Zacks Consensus Estimate for current-year earnings has improved 1.2% over the last 60 days. IBKR currently carries a Zacks Rank #2.

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BlackRock, Inc. (BLK) : Free Stock Analysis Report

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