Bitcoin mining stocks outperformed other cryptocurrency-linked stocks Thursday after multiple industry takeover offers drew market attention to the question of who could be the next target.
Shares of miners such as Stronghold (SDIG), Core Scientific and TeraWulf (WULF) surged more than 15%. Gains in Iris Energy (IREN), Mawson (MIGI), Cathedra (CBIT) and Argo Blockchain exceeded 10%.
Most recently, one of the largest miners, Riot Platforms (RIOT), started a hostile takeover attempt of peer Bitfarms (BITF), while artificial intelligence firm CoreWeave proposed buying another mega-cap miner, CoreScientific (CORZ).
Although Bitfarms and CoreScientific both rejected the offers, the takeover attempts have reminded investors that the industry may be primed for mergers.
Read more: Bitcoin Halving Is Poised to Unleash Darwinism on Miners
B. Riley analyst Lucas Pipes said that power contracts and lower valuations could be the catalyst that starts the consolidation phase for miners.
“We believe that the bullish outlook on the power market could catalyze increased M&A activity this year, especially as wide discrepancies in valuation remain,” he wrote in a report.
JPMorgan analysts agreed with Pipes’ sentiment, noting that AI and cloud computing firms seeking to diversify their power sources could come after bitcoin miners. The bank also said that as some miners are looking to exit this market following the Bitcoin halving – an event that cut mining rewards, pressuring weaker firms – M&A activity is likely to accelerate.
Both Wall Street firms said larger miners such as Riot and Marathon Digital (MARA) are likely in the best position to lead this consolidation wave.