The cryptocurrency rally came to a sudden halt in April after a strong 2023 and first quarter. The first quarter saw Bitcoin (BTC), the world’s most popular cryptocurrency, reach an all-time high of $73,750.
However, Bitcoin has suffered a sharp decline since then, with its price hovering around $68,000 on May 23. In fact, Bitcoin is down 15% since reaching its all-time high on March 14.
One of the biggest reasons behind the decline is the recently concluded halving event, which occurs every four years. The halving event aims to limit the total supply of Bitcoin to 21 million coins by halving the block reward. As a result, a decrease in the rate of new Bitcoin issuance usually leads to an increase in demand for the cryptocurrency, which tends to increase its price.
Wall Street also suffered in April as concerns grew about rising inflation following its first-quarter rise. This led to a rapid decline in optimism about rate cuts as investors feared the Fed could keep interest rates higher for longer.
High interest rates have a negative impact on growth assets such as technology stocks, consumer discretionary stocks, and cryptocurrencies.
But Bitcoin still has great potential. Bitcoin has gained 54% since the beginning of the year, following a 207% increase in 2023. The halving event has also ended.
Additionally, the cryptocurrency is up more than 50% since the first Bitcoin ETFs were launched in early January.
Minutes of the Federal Reserve’s April 30-May 1 FOMC meeting revealed that many officials were in favor of increasing interest rates if needed, as inflation was still above the 2% target.
However, the latest economic data showed that inflation decreased in April after increasing in the first quarter. Consumer price index (CPI) increased by 0.3% on a monthly basis in April; This fell short of economists’ expectations for a 0.4% increase. On an annual basis, CPI increased by 3.4%.
Moreover, UJS GDP grew only 1.6% in the first quarter, following 3.4% growth in the last quarter of 2023. Additionally, retail sales remained flat in April after a 0.3% increase in March, while manufacturing and service activities also slowed last month.
These signs of a slowing economy have raised hopes that the Federal Reserve may soon begin interest rate cuts, which could help the cryptocurrency market.
Our choices
We’ve narrowed our search to four crypto-focused stocks with strong potential for 2024. Each of our picks carries a Zacks Rank #1 (Strong Buy), 2 (Buy), or 3 (Hold). You can see the complete list of today’s Zacks #1 Rank stocks here.
The story continues
NVIDIA Corporation NVDA is a major player in the semiconductor industry and one of the standout success stories of 2023. As a leading designer of graphics processing units (GPUs), NVDA shares are trending higher in value in an evolving crypto market. This is primarily due to the important role GPUs play in data centers, artificial intelligence, and the mining or production of cryptocurrencies.
NVIDIA’s expected earnings growth rate for this year is 89.2%. The Zacks Consensus Estimate for current-year earnings has increased 2.5% over the past 60 days. Currently, NVIDIA is sitting at #1 in the Zacks Rank.
Robinhood Markets, Inc. HOOD operates a financial services platform in the United States. Its platform allows users to invest in stocks, exchange-traded funds, options, gold and cryptocurrencies. HOOD buys and sells Bitcoin, Ethereum, Dogecoin and other cryptocurrencies using the Robinhood Crypto platform.
Robinhood Markets’ expected earnings growth rate for the current year is 198.4%. The Zacks Consensus Estimate for current-year earnings has increased 160.9% over the past 60 days. Robinhood Markets currently has a Zacks Rank #2.
Coinbase Global, Inc. COIN provides financial infrastructure and technology to support the global cryptocurrency economy. COIN provides a primary financial account for consumers in the crypto space, a marketplace with liquidity for institutional cryptoasset transactions, and technology and services for developers to build crypto-based applications and securely accept cryptocurrencies as payment.
Coinbase Global’s expected earnings growth rate for this year is over 100%. The Zacks Consensus Estimate for current-year earnings has moved up 357.3% over the past 60 days. Coinbase is currently sporting a Zacks Rank of #1.
Interactive Brokers Group, Inc. IBKR is a global automated electronic broker. IBKR operates, processes and trades cryptocurrencies. IBKR’s commodity futures trading desk also offers clients the chance to trade cryptocurrency futures.
Interactive Brokers Group’s expected earnings growth rate for this year is 12.9%. The Zacks Consensus Estimate for current-year earnings has moved 6.9% higher over the past 60 days. IBKR currently has a Zacks Rank #2.
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Interactive Brokers Group, Inc. (IBKR): Free Stock Analysis Report
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