Unlock stock picks and a broker-level newsfeed that powers Wall Street.
Zacks Investment Ideas feature highlights: Coinbase, MicroStrategy, BlackRock, Marathon Digital and ProShares Bitcoin Strategy ETF

In This Article:

For Immediate Release

Chicago, IL – September 13, 2023 – Today, Zacks Investment Ideas feature highlights Coinbase COIN, MicroStrategy MSTR, BlackRock BLK, Marathon Digital MARA and ProShares Bitcoin Strategy ETF BITO.

Bitcoin's Untapped Potential: Institutional Adoption

The revolutionary invention of Bitcoin came from a humble 2008 white paper by a pseudonymous person or people named Satoshi Nakamoto. The idea was simple yet powerful – create a digital, decentralized, secure network resistant to a single point of failure. Through the years, Bitcoin has seen some major tests, including (but not limited to):

The 2008 Financial Crisis

Bitcoin went live slightly after the largest recession in more than 100 years.

Mt. Gox Collapse

Early in Bitcoin’s existence, Mt. Gox was the largest Bitcoin exchange in the world and handled around 70% of Bitcoin transactions. However, in early 2014, Mt. Gox was hacked, and the exchange lost approximately 850,000 Bitcoins belonging to customers, equating to hundreds of millions of dollars.

FTX Bankruptcy

FTX was one of the largest crypto exchanges in the world, but in 2022, regulators discovered that its founder Sam Bankman Fried, allegedly mishandled customer funds. Soon after, Fried was arrested, and FTX was forced into Chapter 11 bankruptcy.

Bitcoin Resilience

Bitcoin is known for having ardent haters and religious followers. Nonetheless, despite the shockwaves these and other events sent through the cryptocurrency world, Bitcoin itself has survived. Through thick and thin, Bitcoin has continued to function as a decentralized digital currency, and its price eventually recovered. Since its inception, Bitcoin’s average annual return has been stunning – 230% annually (well above the S&P 500 and pretty much every asset). Bitcoin is now worth $510 billion – well above most Fortune 500 companies.

Institutional Adoption: A Major Catalyst that Hasn’t Come to Fruition (Yet)

If you missed the meteoric Bitcoin returns, is the juice still worth the squeeze? The answer is yes. Bitcoin has achieved stunning returns without major institutional investors being involved. Below are 3 catalysts that will send Bitcoin and Bitcoin proxies even higher:

Legal Clarity

The US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) is locked in major lawsuits against crypto players. Recently, XRP altcoin parent Ripple scored a historic court win over the SEC. The court ruled that XRP is not an offer of unregistered securities. That’s potentially good news for Coinbase, the largest US crypto exchange that is currently entangled in a similar lawsuit with the SEC.