How to Start Investing in Cryptocurrency without Buying Cryptocurrencies?

Buying cryptocurrencies is not very difficult. There are many brokers, exchange markets and other places that customers can easily access and buy Bitcoin, Ethereum and many other cryptocurrencies. But, regardless of how easy it is to buy currencies, some people are worried about cryptocurrencies’ speculative nature and volatility. So, instead of purchasing these currencies directly, investors can start investing in cryptocurrency by investing in publicly traded companies involved in cryptocurrencies operation, hardware and software. 

How to Start Investing in Cryptocurrency Without Buying Coins? 

With cryptocurrencies becoming more prevalent, many more companies are involved in currency mining operations, setting up blockchain ledgers and maintaining the smooth operation of blockchains. Mining cryptocurrencies requires, among other things, sizeable computational power, a large amount of energy and storage facilities. Trading cryptocurrencies involves brokers and exchange markets as well as digital and physical wallets. All these infrastructures are provided by many different companies, which are potential investments. 

Companies that are involved in Cryptocurrencies

Many public trading companies are directly and indirectly involved in cryptocurrencies. The level of involvement can vary from mining currencies to producing computer hardware needed for the mining operation. Companies can also operate blockchain centers, run payment platforms that accept cryptocurrencies or even allow customers to pay with crypto. The level of involvement of each company with the Crypto world will enable investors to choose the degree of exposure they are comfortable with and how much risk they are willing to be exposed to within the crypto world. 

Below are few examples of publicly traded companies that are involved with Cryptocurrencies. These are, by no means, the only ones. New companies are joining these categories every day. 

Companies that are directly involved with cryptocurrencies:

Bitfarms Ltd. (BITF) is a blockchain infrastructure company that mines crypto coins and tokens. The company owns and operates computer farms that validate transactions on the Bitcoin Blockchain. It operates since 2017 in Toronto, Canada and is traded on the Nasdaq stock exchange. 

Big Digital, Inc. (BTBT) engages in bitcoin mining. It is headquartered in New York and has been traded since 2018 on the Nasdaq exchange. 

Hive Blockchain Technologies Ltd. (HVBT) is a cryptocurrency mining company in Canada, Sweden and Iceland. It is involved in the mining and selling of digital currencies such as Ethereum and Bitcoin. 

Coinbase Global Inc. (COIN) provides financial infrastructure and technology for the crypto economy. It offers users financial accounts and a marketplace for trading and accepting crypto assets as payment. The company was founded in 2012 and is based in Delaware. 

Companies that are indirectly involved with cryptocurrencies:

The list above includes companies that are directly involved in cryptocurrency operations. Investors can choose companies that are not purely related to crypto, but instead, their business is used by the crypto industry. This, of course, changes the risk involved in the investment. Below is a shortlist of companies:

NVIDIA Corporation (NVDA) is a leading designer of graphic processing units (GPUs) used, among other applications, in cryptocurrency mining operations. In 2021, NVIDIA launched a new lineup of chips specifically designed for crypto mining operations. 

Square (SQ) is known for its payment processing software for small businesses. Square also operates Cash App, a person-to-person platform that, among other financial operations, allows users to buy and sell bitcoin quickly and easily. 

Amazon (AMZN), the largest e-commerce platform globally, is a leading cloud base computing operator called The Amazon Web Services (AWS).  AWS also offers the Amazon Managed Blockchain, a fully managed service that scales public and private blockchain networks. Although this is a tiny portion of Amazon’s current business, it can be more prominent in the future. 

Conclusion

The lists above include companies whose core business is in cryptocurrency and those that are not pure players. Some are new, and some are leaders in their industry. The point is that cryptocurrencies in general and blockchain technology in particular are unique, and their implementation in finance is just at its infinity. With the expansion of cryptocurrencies, it is clear that blockchain will play some part in future finance. Investing in companies with exposure to this technology might be an intelligent decision. Investors can easily choose from a large number of publically traded companies and start investing in cryptocurrencies without actually buying any crypto coins.