Buying crypto stocks is not the same as buying Bitcoin or other cryptocurrencies directly. The crypto stock sector is not a homogeneous mass, but rather consists of vastly different business models, each with its own operating mechanisms and risk profile. This guide breaks down the six distinct categories of publicly traded crypto stocks that deal in digital assets, showing how a mining company differs from a stablecoin issuer or even a corporate treasury.
❔What is a crypto stock?
With the convergence of traditional and decentralized finance, a new asset class has emerged in the stock markets: crypto stocks. These are publicly traded companies whose primary revenue, balance sheet, or core business is inextricably linked to the blockchain ecosystem or digital assets.
The most important principle is that companies in the crypto sector do not necessarily move in line with the price of Bitcoin or other tokens. We need to distinguish between crypto stocks that own cryptocurrency, mine it, and provide the blockchain infrastructure.
In this article, we have broken down the sector into six basic business models. It is important to note that this only includes publicly traded companies that can be purchased in the form of traditional shares, and does not include projects in which we can acquire ownership using tokens purchased on the blockchain. These projects will be discussed in detail in future articles.
1.💰Crypto stocks: Corporate Treasuries (DAT – Digital Asset Treasuries)
Crypto stocks in this category originally had a traditional (typically software or technology) business model, but management decided to exchange the cash reserves on the company's balance sheet for Bitcoin or another crypto asset (ETH, SOL, etc.). For example, bonds or shares are often issued with the aim of purchasing additional digital assets. In the case of a bond issue, a leveraged position is created, which can be seen through a simple example:
📖The company issues bonds worth $10M. With the money raised, the company buys Bitcoin, the price of Bitcoin is now $50K. If the price rises to $100K in the next period, the company has generated $10M for its shareholders, "for free". On the other hand, if the price of Bitcoin drops to $25K, the company has burned $5M of shareholder capital, since the purchased asset is now worth only $5M, but it still has to repay $10M to the bondholders (plus interest).
That's why it's very important to understand how a given company is funding its asset purchases. Also, how much of their total reserves are invested in a given crypto asset (for example, if only 10% of their reserves are invested, the company's price will move much less with the crypto asset in question than if all of their reserves were invested in it), and whether the company has other businesses that generate revenue.
The largest company in this category is Strategy (originally MicroStrategy (MSTR)). The company buys only one crypto asset, Bitcoin (BTC), so the company's price follows Bitcoin's price to a large extent. The second largest company is Bitmine Immersion (BMNR), they buy Ethereum (ETH), and there are also those who buy Solana (SOL), such as Forward Industries (FWD).
❓Risk profile and conclusion
These stocks can be extremely highly correlated with the price of Bitcoin or other crypto assets, but they can also represent a “leveraged” exposure due to borrowing. The main risks include the ability to repay loans (debt service), drastic fluctuations in the premium or discount between the share price and the net asset value (NAV), and the possible stagnation of revenues from core activities.
💡If you want to track the price of a given crypto asset with your investments, there are other options available that require less understanding of a given company's business processes and less risk.
The easiest way is to buy almost any crypto asset from a crypto broker or a traditional broker (who also provides access to crypto assets), such an account can be opened in a few minutes. Those who are more familiar with technology can also buy directly on the blockchain, you can find articles about this here, where we help you get started on this journey: What is a Web3 wallet? A guide for beginners
But anyone who still wants to invest using traditional stock market instruments now has the opportunity to purchase ETFs that track the prices of major crypto assets:
🪙Bitcoin: iShares Bitcoin Trust ETF (IBIT)
🔗Ethereum: iShares Ethereum Trust ETF (ETHA)
🧿Solana: Bitwise Solana Staking ETF (BSOL)
🛒Top 10 crypto index: Bitwise 10 Crypto Index Fund (BITW)
2.💱Crypto Stocks: Centralized Exchanges and Custodians (CEX)
Platforms that enable the buying, selling, custody and staking of digital assets for retail and institutional clients. They typically generate revenue from transaction fees, spreads, and custody fees. Their abbreviation is CEX (Centralized Exchange).
Centralized exchanges are the bridge between blockchain and the traditional financial system. These companies essentially have two legs, allowing you to buy real crypto assets from them.
- 🏛️One leg is connected to the traditional financial system, with officially controlled traditional bank accounts and funds.
- 🔗The other leg is to the blockchain, where the company stores various cryptocurrencies in web3 wallets. (What is a Web3 wallet? A guide for beginners)
This allows us, for example, to buy an actual Bitcoin token on the Bitcoin blockchain network. The process is as follows:
- The client transfers $100 from his traditional bank account to the traditional bank account provided by the exchange.
- The stock exchange (CEX) records in its own database how much money the client has.
- The customer can then buy a given amount of crypto asset, say $100 worth of Bitcoin. The exchange records in its database how many Bitcoins the customer owns (at the time of writing this would be equivalent to 0.002 Bitcoin). The exchange then buys 0.002 Bitcoin on the blockchain in the background (or covers it from its reserves), but this is invisible to the customer.
- Most customers stop here, having achieved their goal and purchased Bitcoin. However, at this point, we have the option to transfer our Bitcoin to a wallet we control on the Bitcoin network. In this case, the exchange (CEX) transfers the tokens from its own web3 wallet to the web3 wallet we have provided. After that, we own the tokens, the exchange (CEX) no longer has access to them, and the money disappears from our balance on the exchange (What is a Web3 wallet? A guide for beginners).
- (The process works the same way in reverse. If we want to sell our tokens, we transfer them to the address provided by the exchange on the blockchain, they credit the amount, and then we can sell them here and transfer the dollars, euros, etc. to our own traditional bank account).
The exchange offers countless services to customers, to name just a few:
- Buy and sell fiat (traditional dollars, euros, etc.) and crypto assets
- Margin trading
- On-ramp and off-ramp functionality (the process described above during which the customer “gets on” the blockchain or “gets off” the blockchain into the traditional financial system)
- Borrowing (secured by assets)
- Staking and interest (certain assets can be staked for interest)
For most customers, the platform of a given exchange represents the entire crypto ecosystem, where they buy and store their tokens and use all services. Thus, most people pay all their costs related to crypto assets to these exchanges. They are the gatekeepers, so it is understandable how huge the market opportunity is for these companies. The graph below shows that, for example, Coinbase (Coinbase), trading fees were the company's main source of income at the very beginning, but this is constantly shifting towards subscription services (Subscription&Services) as the platform provides more and more functions to customers.
Most centralized exchanges operate as private companies, including Binance and Bybit (Binance, bybit), which are in many ways the two largest companies currently. Of the largest companies, only one is available as a publicly traded stock, Coinbase (COIN).
Some of the smaller exchanges have followed Coinbase's example and gone public, such as crypto stocks like Bullish (BLSH), Coincheck (CNCK), or the Bitcoin Group (ADE.F).
❓Risk profile and conclusion
The earnings of crypto stocks operating in this segment are highly cyclical, depending much more on trading volume and public sentiment than on the sheer price of the assets themselves (volume disappears in a bear market). The main risks include strict regulatory action (e.g. SEC lawsuits, compliance costs), fee compression imposed by competitors, and the squeeze effect of decentralized exchanges (DEXs).
💡If you are interested in how these companies' blockchain competitors (DEXs and other projects) operate, read our related article, in which we introduce the world of DeFi (Decentralized Finance): What is DeFi? A guide to the future of finance
3.⛏️Crypto stocks: crypto miners
These companies operate massive data centers that run “Proof-of-Work” (PoW) algorithms to secure blockchain networks and earn block rewards. They are essentially converting electricity and computing power into crypto assets.
❓What does PoW (Proof-of-Work) mean?
Unlike traditional payment networks, which use central servers to finalize transactions, Bitcoin (and many other blockchain networks) uses a decentralized algorithm called “Proof-of-Work” (PoW).
The essence of it is that miners (servers that run the PoW algorithm) compete to add the next element of the blockchain to the chain, i.e. they can validate and write the next transactions to the blockchain. To do this, they have to solve a very complex, computationally demanding mathematical problem.
The first miner to solve the task wins the right to add the block and is rewarded with newly issued Bitcoin (or the native token of the given blockchain on other networks), this is the "block reward". In addition, he also receives the transaction fees paid by users.
Nowadays, it is no longer possible to mine Bitcoin efficiently with traditional computers. Companies that do this do it on an industrial scale, operating special servers that can do one thing: try to solve the Bitcoin puzzle billions of times per second.
These data centers require huge amounts of electricity and can often be the size of several football fields.
The business model of mining companies can be reduced to one simple question: Are they able to mine Bitcoin at a lower cost than its current market price?
There are two key costs to consider here:
- Capital Expenditures (CapEx): Purchasing specialized ASIC (Application Specific Integrated Circuit) machines and building data centers is extremely expensive and they become obsolete every few years as faster and more efficient models appear on the market.
- Operating expenses (OpEx): Electricity is by far the largest variable cost. This is why mining companies locate their operations where energy is abundant and cheap, and where cooling requires less energy. In this respect, colder climates will have an advantage, but the price and predictability of energy will be the most important considerations.
↔️What is the difference between Riot and Marathon?
The two most influential companies in the sector are Riot Blockchain Inc (RIOT) and Marathon Digital Holdings Inc (MARA). Although they perform the same activity, their corporate strategies are historically different:
- Riot: Riot focuses heavily on infrastructure ownership. They own their own massive facilities (like their flagship Rockdale and Corsicana plants in Texas). Because they own the grid infrastructure, they can participate in grid “demand response” programs. For example, if the Texas power grid becomes overloaded during a heat wave, Riot can shut down its machines and sell the electricity it purchased in advance back to the grid at a huge premium—making many times more money than if they had mined Bitcoin.
- Marathon: Marathon previously followed an “asset-light” model. Instead of building their own data centers, they bought the machines and paid a third-party hosting company to connect and run them (although they have recently started buying their own locations). Marathon is also known for its aggressive “HODL” strategy: they keep almost all of the Bitcoin they mine on their corporate balance sheet, thus acting in part as the “corporate treasury” mentioned at the beginning of this article. They only sell as much Bitcoin as they need to cover their operations.
Mining companies are increasingly becoming general data center operators and often rent out their computing capacity for other purposes, such as running Artificial Intelligence, when it makes more financial sense.
❓Risk profile and conclusion
Mining companies are essentially industrial energy companies. In many cases, they raise capital on Wall Street to buy silicon chips and electricity, which they use to process transactions and extract “digital gold,” mostly from the Bitcoin protocol.
As more miners around the world add new machines to the network, the Bitcoin protocol automatically makes the math harder (since there is a fixed number of 144 blocks produced per day, which all miners share in). This means that these companies are in a constant arms race: they have to keep buying more and more machines just to maintain their current market share of block rewards.
They face unique operational risks: the Bitcoin network “halving,” which cuts the block reward by half every four years, the aforementioned competition due to the continuous increase in global computing capacity (hash rate), fluctuating energy prices, and rapid hardware obsolescence (ASIC machines quickly become obsolete). They typically form the most volatile subgroup of crypto stocks.
4.💲Crypto stocks: infrastructure and stablecoin issuers
Although headlines in this category are often dominated by stablecoin issuers, the concept of infrastructure is much broader than that.
The majority of the sector's revenues are currently dominated by stablecoin issuers (such as Circle (CRCL)), the concept of infrastructure is much broader than this. This also includes software and fintech companies that build and operate the critical backend systems – the technology’s “plumbing system” – between the traditional financial system and blockchain (Web3). While the largest pure-play crypto infrastructure providers (such as Chainalysis or Fireblocks) are currently private companies, there are also companies building this infrastructure on public exchanges. These companies (such as Bakkt (BKKT) or Exodus Movement (EXOD) earn their income from transaction commissions and software usage fees.
Their operations include, on the one hand, the operation of fiat-crypto gateways (On-Ramps), with which retail users can convert their traditional money into digital assets using a bank card, while adhering to strict customer identification (KYC) rules (similar to a centralized exchange, but in many cases the process is simpler and faster). On the other hand, they provide back-end solutions (APIs) to traditional banks and fintech companies using a B2B “Crypto-as-a-Service” (CaaS) model, so that they can offer crypto trading to their customers without their own blockchain development. In addition, this category also includes the development of self-custody software wallets, with which users can interact securely with decentralized finance (DeFi) without coding knowledge. We wrote about this in detail in a previous article: What is a web3 wallet?
🪙Stablecoin issuers
Let's take a closer look at the business models of the largest companies in the sector. Stablecoin issuers accept fiat deposits (dollars, euros, etc.), invest them in short-term government securities, and in return issue blockchain-based tokens (stablecoins). In most cases, the return on invested fiat assets represents the bulk of their income.
💡What are stablecoins?
Stablecoins are crypto assets that closely track the value of a given currency (or other asset, such as gold). For example, the USDC token issued by Circle fluctuates around $1 on the blockchain in a very narrow range, because the company issues 1 USDC when $1 is available as a reserve in their traditional bank account, so 1 USDC can be directly converted back to $1 at any time.
The two largest players are Tether and Circle, who are the issuers of the USDT and USDC dollar-based stablecoins. The chart above shows their absolute dominance, moreover, USDe, DAI and even many issuers in the “Other” category are not traditional companies, but crypto-native DAOs (Decentralized Autonomous Organizations), so we cannot access them on the traditional stock market (however, they are accessible on the crypto market, you can read about it in this article): What is DeFi? A guide to the future of finance).
Additionally, Tether is a privately held company, so the only option on the stock market in this category is Circle (CRCL).
The most important difference between each stablecoin is the mechanism by which they ensure that their tokens can track the exchange rate of the US dollar, This is called the pegging mechanism. If the price of a token regularly deviates from $1, investors will not use it for this purpose, since the point is that the price does not fluctuate. Fortunately, the pegging mechanism of Circle and Tether is very safe, and the tokens can be redeemed at any time for the traditional currencies or assets that represent them.
Stablecoins have now become one of, if not the most important tools of the blockchain network; the majority of transactions on the networks are carried out with some kind of stablecoin, so this sector deserves special attention. As can be seen in the chart below, USDC's usage has grown rapidly over the past year, along with its market capitalization, and this is supported by all industry data.
💡Circle also issues euro-based stablecoins (EURC), and Tether also issues Chinese yuan (CNHT), Mexican peso (MXNT), and gold (XAUT)-based ones, but their overall size dwarfs that of USDC and USDT.
In 2026, 99+% of stablecoins on the blockchain will track the US dollar exchange rate, 0.5% will track the EUR, while the share of all other currencies will be negligible.
❓Risk profile and conclusion
Infrastructure software companies and stablecoin issuers share one important thing: their business model is based on network utility and transaction volume, not the price of digital assets. Their income is largely independent of whether Bitcoin is worth $30000 or $100000. They make money when the capitalization of stablecoins on the blockchain increases, when new capital flows into the system, when banks integrate the technology, or when users transact on the network. These shares are therefore not cryptocurrency exchange rate speculations, but bets on the everyday, institutional and residential adaptation of blockchain technology itself.
Stablecoin issuers are specifically highly sensitive to traditional macroeconomic factors, especially central bank interest rates (a higher central bank base rate means a higher return on their reserves, while a rate cut reduces their income). Their main risks are the loss of a fixed exchange rate (de-pegging), the possible bankruptcy of traditional banking partners (see the case of Silicon Valley Bank or Silvergate Capital), and strict international regulation of stablecoins.
5.🏛️Crypto stocks: asset managers and commercial banks
When looking at publicly traded crypto companies, there is a category that doesn't neatly fit into either miners or simple crypto exchanges. These companies operate like diversified investment and commercial banks for the digital asset world. Notable companies include market leader Galaxy Digital ( led by Mike NovogratzGLXY), European giant CoinShares International (CS.ST), or the smaller but dynamically growing DeFi Technologies (DEFT).
Their business model is not based on a single activity, but covers the entire crypto ecosystem. On the one hand, they manage huge capital for institutional investors (for example, by issuing spot Bitcoin ETFs and European exchange-traded products, ETPs), from which they collect stable management fees on the assets under management. On the other hand, they are active players in the market: they also deal with proprietary trading, liquidity provision and classic investment banking services (such as M&A advice). In addition, these companies almost without exception also have an aggressive venture capital (VC) department, through which they invest in early-stage Web3 startups, token projects and decentralized networks, and some of them even operate their own blockchain infrastructure or gigantic mining farms.
The above figure, found in Galaxy Digital's presentation at the beginning of 2026, shows that the company sees huge potential in tokenizing traditional assets (making them available on the blockchain), from which they, as an investment bank dealing with these assets, could benefit enormously.
❓Risk profile and conclusion
From an investor's perspective, this complex model is particularly attractive because it provides extremely broad exposure and responds more flexibly to the extreme cycles of the crypto market. While a pure mining company’s fortunes depend almost exclusively on Bitcoin’s price, energy prices, and the emergence of new competitors, these “crypto-banks” are diversified. When the market is stagnant, their income from asset management fees is continuous. When volatility is high, their trading division’s profits multiply. And in the event of a new bull market, the value of their venture capital investments can multiply. These crypto stocks are therefore aimed at investors who want to participate in institutional adaptation, trading volume, and the growth of blockchain technology through a single paper.
But despite diversification, they are highly exposed to broader crypto market cycles. In a bear market, assets under management (AUM) shrink, which wipes out fee income. They carry significant counterparty risk and proprietary trading risk, because if a partner they have lent to goes bankrupt, the “contagion” immediately reaches the firm’s balance sheet.
6.💵Fintech hybrid crypto stocks
Looking for publicly traded crypto exposure doesn't necessarily mean investing in pure-play blockchain-focused companies. One of the most important segments of the market is made up of traditional financial technology (fintech) and brokerage firms with huge user bases that have deeply integrated digital tools into their platforms in recent years. Industry giants like Block (which operates Cash App)SQ), PayPal (PYPL) or Robinhood, which revolutionized retail stock trading (HOOD) essentially act as Trojan horses for crypto adaptation. PayPal ( ), which issues the PYUSD stable coinPYPL) you can read the analysis here PayPal Stock Analysis (PYPL) – Price Does Not Equal Value
These companies are the first, most convenient point of contact with digital assets for hundreds of millions, bridging the gap between traditional banking and the Web3 world. The essence of their business model is that they do not take extreme risks themselves by accumulating huge amounts of cryptocurrency on their balance sheets (like Strategy) or mining crypto themselves. Instead, they function as gateways or brokers. Their revenue comes primarily from commissions on user-generated buy and sell transactions, as well as from bid-ask spreads. However, their innovation goes far beyond mere trading: PayPal, for example, is already issuing its own dollar-pegged stablecoin (PYUSD) on the blockchain, and Robinhood and Block are developing self-custody Web3 wallets, which direct retail capital from their own closed ecosystem (walled garden) directly to decentralized finance (DeFi).
The chart below shows Robinhood’s previous two years of numbers, showing that the value of crypto assets held by customers on the platform does not exceed 15%, a similar growth rate to that seen for traditional assets. Thus, the company’s crypto exposure is currently low, similar to the other two companies mentioned above (Square and Paypal).
💡I think it is important to note that the crypto services offered by the above companies are currently far behind dedicated crypto exchanges (like Binance or Coinbase) and in many cases there is no option to transfer the tokens purchased here to our own web3 wallet. Although it is a fact that the vast majority of customers are not interested in this, they just want to gain exposure to crypto assets, which these companies are perfect for.
You can find our article about Web3 wallets here: What is a Web3 wallet? A guide for beginners
❓Risk profile and conclusion
The biggest attraction of fintech hybrids for investors is that they provide strong “downside protection” against the volatility of the crypto market. If the crypto market slips into a brutal multi-year bear market (fall) and trading volumes dry up, these companies will not go bankrupt, but will simply rely on their extremely stable core businesses, such as classic card payment processing, stock trading or lending. However, when a new crypto bull market arrives and the public FOMO (fear of missing out) takes hold, these platforms’ revenues and user activity indicators can explode thanks to high-margin crypto transactions. These stocks are therefore the perfect target for investors who want to ride the crypto sector’s huge upswings but are not willing to endure the extreme price volatility and existential risks associated with “pure” crypto companies.
Another risk that should be mentioned is regulatory. Because they serve large populations, they are prime targets for regulators (e.g., the SEC) to investigate whether the tokens they offer qualify as unregistered securities.
✅Crypto Stock Summary: Navigating iOCharts Stock Pages
When analyzing crypto stocks, context is paramount, and investors should look at different metrics for each model. While a mining company might look at “mining cost/Bitcoin” and installed capacity, an exchange might look at monthly active users (MTU) and transaction revenue. Fintech hybrids might look at the crypto segment’s share of total revenue.
We try to provide assistance with analyses and display unique data related to business on individual stock pages, as shown in the figure below.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is the difference between crypto stocks and buying cryptocurrency directly?
When you buy crypto stocks, you are buying shares of a company listed on a traditional stock exchange, not the digital asset itself. This means that the value of your investment is affected not only by the price of the crypto asset, but also by the business model, management, debt, and other corporate factors of the company – so the two are not at all equally risky.
What types of crypto stocks are there?
The crypto stock market is extremely diverse: categories include corporate treasuries (such as Strategy, which accumulates Bitcoin on its balance sheet), Bitcoin mining companies (such as Riot or Marathon), centralized crypto exchanges (such as Coinbase), stablecoin issuers and infrastructure providers (such as Circle), diversified crypto investment banks (such as Galaxy Digital), and fintech hybrid platforms that also offer crypto (such as Robinhood or PayPal).
How risky are crypto stocks compared to traditional stocks?
Crypto stocks are generally significantly more volatile than traditional stocks, as their risk is twofold: they are exposed to both general stock market movements and extreme crypto market cycles. The riskiest subgroup is made up of mining companies, while fintech hybrids – thanks to their strong traditional core business – offer somewhat greater protection against crypto market declines.
How to invest in crypto stocks from Hungary?
Crypto stocks can be purchased in the same way as any other foreign stock: through an account opened with a traditional online broker that provides access to US or European exchanges. Platforms such as Interactive Brokers allow you to directly purchase shares of Coinbase (COIN), Riot (RIOT), Marathon (MARA) or Galaxy Digital (GLXY) in Hungarian forints, dollars or euros.
What should you pay attention to before buying a crypto stock?
Before investing in crypto stocks, it is crucial to understand the exact business model of the company: how it finances its digital asset purchases, how much debt it has, whether it has a standalone revenue-generating core business, and to what extent its stock price correlates with the crypto asset it holds. It is equally important to monitor the regulatory environment, as regulatory changes can drastically affect the way these companies do business.
Legal and liability statement (aka. disclaimer): My articles contain personal opinions, I write them solely for my own entertainment and that of my readers. The articles published here do NOT in any way exhaust the scope of investment advice. I have never intended, do not intend, and am unlikely to provide such in the future. What is written here is for informational purposes only and should NOT be construed as an offer. The expression of opinion is NOT in any way considered a guarantee to sell or buy financial instruments. You are SOLELY responsible for the decisions you make, and no one else, including me, assumes the risk.
