As the cryptocurrency and blockchain spaces heat up, traders and investors are looking for an exposure to the incredible growth seen in the sector over the last twelve months. The most obvious allocation is a direct acquisition of one of the leading cryptocurrencies – bitcoin, Litecoin, etc. These coins have returned thousands of percentage points in reward over the last twelve months and they remain an attractive pick for a many.
For a large portion of the market, however, a direct cryptocurrency buy is anything but an attractive exposure.
These coins remain incredibly volatile and, at the same time, are relatively difficult not just to buy and sell but also to store securely. These barriers to entry have led many of the more traditional traders and investors to seek alternative exposures and, of these exposure types, publicly traded companies that operate in the bitcoin and blockchain spaces have become a favored asset.
Only a handful of these companies are actually tied directly to the space, however, and any of these are relatively stagnant when it comes to operational advance and establishing a position from which they can take advantage of industry growth going forward.
Of those options on offer, one of the most attractive right now is Global Blockchain Technologies Corp. (OTCMKTS:BLKCF).
The reason this company is one of the most attractive is that it’s set up as an investment management company, designed to provide investors access to a basket of holdings within the blockchain space. The company is managed by a team of industry pioneers and early adopters of all major cryptocurrencies and is headed up by an individual this fits firmly within both of these just mentioned categories – President and Chief Operating Officer, Shidan Gouran.
And as mentioned, Global Blockchain is moving fast to establish itself as a leader in the publicly traded side of this space.
On January 2, 2018, the company announced that it had received regulatory approval to complete the purchase of a previously announced batch of cryptocurrency mining equipment. Specifically, the purchase amounts to 6,666 Antminer S9s (from Bitmain Technologies Limited, a privately-owned multinational semiconductor company headquartered in Beijing, China) and equates to a total purchase price of $20 million.
The interesting thing here is that Global Blockchain isn’t actually going to be undertaking any mining operations itself. Instead, the purchase is for investment purposes (these pieces of hardware are incredibly low supply and high demand) and, alongside the regulatory approval notice, Global Blockchain reported that a company called Coinstream Mining (a company that Global Blockchain has already kicked off a collaboration with) has agreed to accept a number of Antminer’s, to be negotiated, in satisfaction of a US $10 million investment commitment to Coinstream by Global Blockchain.
So what should investors look for next as indicative of growth?
This company is in a corrective phase right now, primarily driven by the action seen in the bitcoin price over the last couple of weeks (naturally, Global Bitcoin’s share price and the bitcoin price are correlated) and there’s a good chance investors will see the current dip as an opportunity to pick up some cheap shares ahead of a return to the overarching upside momentum.
Traders should look out for any releases related to the above mentioned Coinstream negotiation, as well as any fresh deals between global Blockchain and other industry-specific companies, as company-driven catalysts. From a macro perspective, any return to strength in the bitcoin price should also boost share price.