Publicly traded U.S. crypto mining companies doubled their bitcoin (BTC) holdings last year, taking the total to 92,473 valued at $8.6 billion as of end-December.
The largest cryptocurrency rose 120% over the course of 2024.
The biggest stash of bitcoin among publicly listed companies, except for MicroStrategy’s 450,000 BTC, belongs to MARA Holdings (MARA) with its 44,893 BTC.
The strategy of investing in bitcoin and keeping it for the long term, known as HODL after a typing error made more than a decade ago, has gained popularity in the past 12 months.
Three other miners also hold more than 10,000 BTC: Riot Platforms (RIOT) with 17,722 BTC, Hut 8 (HUT) with 10,171 BTC and CleanSpark (CLSK) with 10,097 BTC, according to Bitcoin Treasuries.
But not all miners subscribe to the HODL playbook. IREN (IREN), TeraWulf (WULF), and Core Scientific (CORZ) all keep very little bitcoin or none at all. Due to the competitive nature of the business, these companies have pivoted into the artificial intelligence (AI) and high-performance computing (HPC) industries.
However, this strategy has not necessarily paid off in the stock market. While bitcoin and other crypto-related equities, such as MicroStrategy, have seen strong gains, the miners’ share prices haven’t followed the same trajectory.
Standout performers Core Scientific and Terawulf, with their new AI focus, both saw over 300% returns. But overall, the miners underperformed bitcoin and other crypto stocks.
This year, though, the miners that HODL bitcoin have strongly benefited, with RIOT, HUT and CLSK all outperforming bitcoin. Only Bitdeer (BTDR) has generated negative returns, after seeing a strong performance in 2024.
