The cryptocurrency market faced an unexpected roadblock last week as fears of a trade war escalated following President Donald Trump’s tariff announcements on Mexico, Canada and China. However, the fears have subsided over the past couple of days after Trump decided to pause the tariffs on Canada and Mexico for a month following extensive negotiations.
Also, last week, the emergence of Chinese AI startup DeepSeek, which has challenged the U.S. dominance in artificial intelligence, saw cryptocurrencies, particularly Bitcoin (BTC), suffer due to the broader tech stocks’ sell-off. However, investors have put those concerns behind, and the cryptocurrency market has rebounded from last week’s decline.
Bitcoin, after declining to $95,000 earlier this week, is again racing toward $100,000 and is on track to surpass $150,000 in the near term. Bitcoin-centric stocks like Robinhood Markets, Inc. HOOD, NVIDIA Corporation NVDA, Visa Inc. V and Interactive Brokers Group, Inc. IBKR would thus be a lucrative buy. These stocks have strong growth potential for 2025. Each of these stocks has seen positive earnings estimate revision in the past 60 days.
Bitcoin’s price fell below $95,000 earlier this week after Trump announced 25% tariffs on Canadian and Mexican imports, igniting fears of a trade war. However, the tariff plans have been rolled back for a month after Canada and Mexico agreed to Trump’s demand for tighter border security.
The cryptocurrency has since rebounded, hovering around $98,300 on early Thursday morning. Bitcoin hit an all-time high of $106,533 on Dec. 22 and has hovered around $102,000 for most of January after a stellar 2024.
However, volatility returned to markets in the past couple of weeks, which also impacted Bitcoin. Another reason for Bitcoin’s slump from the $100,000 mark was the rise of Chinese AI startup DeepSeek.
The newly developed AI model is said to have been created at an exceptionally low cost and is being recognized as groundbreaking. This has raised concerns that it might threaten the dominance of U.S. tech companies in the AI sector. While Bitcoin is not directly connected to DeepSeek’s AI model, its price movements are often linked to more volatile assets such as tech stocks.
Bitcoin’s price fell as much as 6% after Trump’s crypto czar David Sacks in his press conference, earlier this week, failed to share any pro-crypto policy changes. Investors had expected concrete actions, like officially incorporating Bitcoin into U.S. reserves or implementing significant tax changes that would benefit digital assets.
Instead, Sacks clarified that the sovereign wealth fund is not connected to the Bitcoin reserve, effectively dispelling any hope of a direct institutional investment in BTC. Sacks also emphasized his commitment to promoting the global adoption of stablecoins, presenting USD-backed digital assets as a more favorable option.
However, traders are still hopeful that the Trump administration will announce pro-crypto policy changes in the near term. Experts believe Bitcoin still has a lot of potential. On Wednesday, Standard Chartered said it projects Bitcoin to hit $500,000 by 2028, driven by greater investor access and reduced volatility.
Bitcoin had a stellar 2024, and this year looks promising. The cryptocurrency has hit record highs every four years during its last two bullish cycles since 2017. In these cycles, the cryptocurrency saw gains of 2300% and 1700%, respectively, followed by corrections of 70% to 80%. From its low of $16,000 in early 2023, Bitcoin has risen nearly 600%, suggesting significant growth in the near term.
Robinhood Markets, Inc. 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 its Robinhood Crypto platform.
Robinhood Markets’ expected earnings growth rate for the current year is more than 100%.The Zacks Consensus Estimate for current-year earnings has improved 21.3% over the last 60 days. Robinhood Markets currently has a Zacks Rank #1 (Strong Buy). You can see the complete list of today’s Zacks #1 Rank stocks here.
NVIDIA Corporation is a major player in the semiconductor industry and has been one of the standout success stories of 2023. As a leading designer of graphic processing units (GPUs), the value of the NVDA stock tends to surge in a thriving crypto market. This is primarily due to the crucial role that GPUs play in data centers, artificial intelligence and the mining or production of cryptocurrencies.
NVIDIA’s expected earnings growth rate for the current year is more than 100%. The Zacks Consensus Estimate for current-year earnings has improved 0.3% over the past 60 days. Currently, NVIDIA has a Zacks Rank #2 (Buy).
Visa Inc. is taking a significant step toward modernizing cross-border money movement. In a move aimed at enhancing the efficiency of global transactions, V is expanding its stablecoin settlement capabilities to the high-performing Solana blockchain. This expansion of V includes collaboration with prominent merchant acquirers Worldpay and Nuvei, marking a pivotal development in the world of digital payments.
Visa Inc.’s expected earnings growth rate for the current year is 12.1%. The Zacks Consensus Estimate for current-year earnings has improved 0.4% over the last 60 days. V currently has a Zacks Rank #2.
Interactive Brokers Group, Inc. is a global automated electronic broker. IBKR executes, processes and trades in cryptocurrencies. IBKR’s commodities futures trading desk also offers customers a chance to trade cryptocurrency futures.
Interactive Brokers Group has an expected earnings growth rate of 5.1% for the current year. The Zacks Consensus Estimate for current-year earnings has improved 4.8% over the last 60 days. IBKR currently has a Zacks Rank #1.
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