The Wall Street Journal recently named Marathon Digital (MARA), Coinbase (COIN), and MicroStrategy (MSTR) as three crypto-related stocks to watch.

Bitcoin prices recently exceeded $64,000. Sites like Yahoo Finance, Forbes, Bloomberg and Binance provide Bitcoin to USD conversion charts and live prices.

So what do these three companies do?

Marathon Digital

Marathon Digital Holdings is a digital asset technology company. Marathon, or MARA, specializes in mining cryptocurrencies, particularly Bitcoin. MARA is one of the biggest Bitcoin mining companies in the US.

It aims to build one of the most sustainable bitcoin mining operations in the world. Bitcoin mining traditionally requires large amounts of energy. The company chose the US to base its operations, partly due to the relatively cheap energy available, especially renewable energy in places like Texas.

The company names utility-scale computing, energy harvesting, and a technology suite as their pillars. Their utility-scale computing involves monetizing excess power generation with large grid-connector data centers. The company says these “help improve the economic viability of energy projects by reducing curtailment and support power grid operations by balancing power supply and demand.”

Their energy harvesting is intended to transform sources such as landfill waste and food processing byproducts into usable electricity. 

Their technology suite includes cooling technology and a custom firmware, which is designed to improve Bitcoin mining efficiency and performance.

MARA’s stock is often highly correlated with Bitcoin’s price movements. Some investors view Marathon’s stock as a proxy for investing in Bitcoin.

Coinbase

Coinbase describe themselves as “a secure online platform for buying, selling, transferring, and storing cryptocurrency”. Coinbase was the first major crypto company to go public on the US stock exchange. This was seen as a sign of growing acceptance of crypto in the mainstream.

Coinbase aims to make trading crypto easier, support free transactions between users on the Coinbase platform, and provide security and backups. The platform is known for its easy-to-use interface, popular with beginners in crypto.

For more advanced users, the company offers Coinbase Pro, which provides lower fees and more advanced trading tools.

They also offer Coinbase Custody, a service that stores large amounts of digital assets in offline cold storage wallets, which are highly secure against hackers.

Coinbase’s quarterly volume traded, as of October 14, was $226 billion across 100+ countries. The platform was voted as the most trusted crypto exchange in a 2022 YouGov survey that spanned the US, UK, Germany, and India. The company says that a “strong compliance foundation” is important to them and that they have a high standard for listed assets, provided services, and access to their products.

MicroStrategy

MicroStrategy’s tagline is “Trusted Data. AI Powered. At Your Fingertips.” The company provides business intelligence, mobile software, and cloud-based services.

The company says they offer “fast” and “easy-to-understand insights”, and were the first to integrate AI technology to business intelligence (BI). The product MicroStrategy ONE is described as an “all-in-one AI and BI platform”.

MicroStrategy made headlines in 2020, becoming one of the first publicly traded companies to convert much of its cash reserves into Bitcoin. Its CEO, Michael Saylor, was concerned about the devaluation of fiat currencies due to money printing by governments and central banks amid the pandemic. Saylor viewed Bitcoin and its fixed maximum supply of 21 million coins as better value.

MicroStrategy’s AI service, Auto, is designed to reduce the time businesses need to spend on building data modelling dashboards and reports, provide data visualization and predictive analytics, and answer questions from users.

How are these stocks moving?

At the close of October 11, MARA’s stock stood at 16.08. At the time of writing, it has risen to 16.85. Its 5-day chart records a -1.41% fall in price, while its 3-month chart sees a -14.88% fall.

Coinbase stood at 176.38 at close on October 11. It has enjoyed a 3.20% rise over the last 5-day period, but dipped -19.67% over the last 3 months.

MicroStrategy closed at 212.59 on October 11 and has risen 20.44 over the last 5 days. Its 3-month hike was even greater, at 62.81%. 

So why did The Wall Street Journal name these as stocks to watch?

Bitcoin has recently stayed above $62,000. Bitcoin often enjoys a fruitful month in October, which has led to the nickname “Uptober”. This month so far, though, has been relatively quiet. November and December are traditionally volatile months.

MicroStrategy’s growth seems hopeful, but naming MARA and Coinbase as stocks to watch seems more speculative.

What other stocks did The Wall Street Journal name?

Boeing, the aerospace company, was the first stock named. The company recently said that it will cut 10% of its workforce – around 17,000 jobs – and warned of more losses.

Sirius XM’s stocks recently rose. Berkshire Hathaway added to its stake in the company, buying roughly 3.6 million shares.

Tesla shares saw a modest rise, after a previous slide prompted by a robotaxi reveal that analysts said lacked financial details.

Luxury stocks including LVMH, Kering, and Christian Dior fell amid confusion over how much Beijing will spend on economic stimulus.

The shares in a pharmaceutical company GSK rose after a respiratory drug “met its main objectives in two late-stage clinical trials”, according to WSJ.