How do you invest in bitcoin without investing in bitcoin? For many investors, the answer has been to buy shares in the crypto-mining company, Argo Blockchain, which is listed on the London Stock Exchange.
Crypto-mining is the process where computers solve tough mathematical problems to create new units of cryptocurrency, such as bitcoins, which is how they enter circulation. The company is claiming to champion the use of renewable sources of power to power the mining.
From January to the end of November, the company was the most-bought share on the AJ Bell platform, used by more than 380,000 investors.
Argo Blockchain’s share price is up 125 per cent since the start of the year, from 47p a share to £1.06. At its peak in mid-February, shares cost £2.84.
AJ Bell’s top ten most-bought companies included GameStop, which hit the headlines in January when its share price soared 350 per cent in two days as individual traders, who shared tips on forums such as Reddit, started buying stock because several hedge funds were betting that the price would go down.
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It is what has become known as a “meme” stock, which are companies that become popular on the stock market due to social media. Shares now trade at £119.90, up from £12.87 at the start of the year.
“Sometimes utter bewilderment is the only rational response to events,” said Laith Khalaf from AJ Bell.
The pharmaceutical firm GlaxoSmithKline, the oil company BP and the financial services firms Lloyds and Aviva made the top ten, as did British Airways’s parent company International Consolidated Airlines, the car maker Rolls-Royce, the consumer goods company Unilever and the electric car maker Tesla.
