Back to top

Image: Bigstock

Cryptocurrency Proxy Stocks Climb as Litecoin Soars

Read MoreHide Full Article

Shares of multiple bitcoin and cryptocurrency proxy stocks—including Riot Blockchain (RIOT - Free Report) , Long Blockchain Corp. (LBCC - Free Report) , and the Bitcoin Investment Trust (GBTC - Free Report) —surged on Wednesday, thanks in large part, to a major announcement related to Litecoin.

Litecoin, the fifth-largest cryptocurrency by market cap according to CoinMarketCap.com, has seen its price soar 33% over the last 24 hours. This climb helped spur a nearly industry-wide jump, including gains from the three largest cryptocurrencies: Bitcoin, Ethereum, and Ripple. Overall, the cryptocurrency market has added nearly $40 billion in total capitalization in the last day.

The crypto market boomed following the announcement of Litecoin’s first-ever “hard fork.” In the cryptocurrency world, a hard fork means a change in the rules of the blockchain infrastructure that is not recognized as valid by the older software. This hard fork, initiated by the brand-new Litecoin Cash Foundation, is similar to a stock split in the sense that it aims to reduce barriers to entry for new users (also read: Here's Why Litecoin Is Soaring Today).

With that said, let’s take a look at three cryptocurrency proxy stocks that popped today following the Litecoin Cash announcement.

Long Blockchain Corp.

Formerly known as Long Island Iced Tea Corp., Long Blockchain stock soared after it pivoted from a non-alcoholic beverage company into a firm that looks to invest or partner with companies in the blockchain technology that makes the crypto market possible. Today, Long Blockchain stock popped over 5%. But before today’s gains, shares of the rebranded New York-based firm had plummeted over 40% in the last four weeks.

Riot Blockchain

Like many other blockchain firms, Riot operated a completely different business not so long ago. Until recently, RIOT was a dying microcap biotech diagnostics equipment firm called Bioptix. Following the change, Riot saw its stock price skyrocket and now tends to trade based on crypto-related news. Shares of Riot climbed over 7.22% on the back of the Litecoin hard fork announcement.

Bitcoin Investment Trust

Shares of this bitcoin holding fund surged nearly 9% on Wednesday following the massive surge in the crypto market. However,today’s gains hardly make up for Bitcoin Investment Trust’s recent losses, and at $15.69 per share, it still sits far below its split-adjusted all-time intraday trading high of $38.71 per share.

Don’t Even Think About Buying Bitcoin Until You Read This

The most popular cryptocurrency skyrocketed last year, giving some investors the chance to bank 20X returns or even more. Those gains, however, came with serious volatility and risk. Bitcoin sank 25% or more 3 times in 2017.

Zacks has just released a new Special Report to help readers capitalize on the explosive profit potential of Bitcoin and the other cryptocurrencies with significantly less volatility than buying them directly.

See 4 crypto-related stocks now >>


See More Zacks Research for These Tickers


Normally $25 each - click below to receive one report FREE:


Grayscale Bitcoin Trust ETF (GBTC) - free report >>

Riot Platforms, Inc. (RIOT) - free report >>

Long Island Iced Tea Corp. (LBCC) - free report >>