On April 17, we noted, “Keep an eye on Bitcoin mining stocks, like Riot Platforms (RIOT) ahead of the Bitcoin halving. Ahead of the 2020 halving, RIOT was just bottoming out at around 95 cents. By the halving, it was up to $1.70. It would then run to $52.73. Ahead of the 2016 halving, it was above $3. By December, it was up to $3.79. By late 2017, it was up to $33.27. With the 2012 halving, RIOT traded at around $19. Shortly after the halving, it did slip to $14.55 before recovering to about $20 by December.”
At the time, RIOT traded at around $8. Today, it just hit a high of $12.65 and could see higher highs. Better, Standard Chartered analysts say Bitcoin could race to $150,000 this year.
“We think the bad news is already priced in for BTC and ETH, and that positive structural drivers will take over again as negative drivers fade,” they said, as quoted by CNBC. “In addition, market positioning is now much cleaner than it was; USD 261mn of leveraged long positions were removed from BTC futures alone on 13 April – the largest daily liquidation since at least October 2023 – in response to Iran’s attack on Israel that day.”