* Broker raised its year-end bitcoin target to $90K from $80K.
* Bernstein now expects a 7% reduction in hashrate post halving from shutdowns.
* Says bitcoin miners compelling buys for equity investors looking for exposure to crypto.
Bernstein raised its year-end bitcoin (BTC) price forecast to $90K from $80K and updated estimates for mining stocks in its coverage, the broker said in a research report on Thursday.
“With a new bitcoin bull cycle, strong ETF inflows, aggressive miner capacity expansion, and all-time high miner dollar revenues, we continue to find bitcoin miners compelling buys for equity investors seeking exposure to the crypto cycle,” wrote analysts Gautam Chhugani and Mahika Sapra.
“We assume a 7% reduction in hashrate post halving from shutdowns versus 15% earlier,” the authors wrote. Hashrate refers to the total combined computational power that is being used to mine and process transactions on a proof-of-work blockchain. The quadrennial reward halving is when mining rewards are cut in half. The next halving is expected in mid-April.
Bernstein raised its price target for outperform-rated CleanSpark (CLSK) to $30 from $14.20. It trimmed its price target for outperform-rated Riot Platforms (RIOT) to $22 from $$22.50 and lifted its Marathon Digital (market-perform) price target to $23 from $14.30.
CleanSpark closed at $20.25 on Wednesday, Riot at $12.40 and Marathon at $22.43.
Riot and CleanSpark are set to emerge as leaders in the sector, as the “largest miners with the largest self-mining capacity,” the report added.
Read more: Bitcoin Miners Need to Be Proactive to Hold Their Positions After Halving: Fidelity Digital Assets
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