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Stocks with exposure to cryptocurrencies have gotten a turbo-boost this year.

As the price of Bitcoin and other coins has soared, public companies seen as proxies for the new asset class have sometimes risen even more than the cryptocurrencies themselves. One reason for that dynamic is that traditional investors have limited options for buying Bitcoin in their portfolios, and some appear to be trying to gain exposure through the handful of stocks that have embraced the technology.

With several companies saying they are incorporating Bitcoin or blockchain technology into their business models, or buying Bitcoin outright, it can be hard for investors to gauge which stocks are truly bound to benefit or suffer based on Bitcoin price moves. Goldman Sachs has put together a screening tool that tries to make that easier. Analyst Ben Snider used three main criteria to identify stocks that are closely tied to Bitcoin or the blockchain technology that powers it. His search was limited to stocks with market caps greater than $1 billion.

First, Goldman looked for stocks that had mentioned Bitcoin or blockchain in public filings, presentations, or transcripts of their earnings calls. News articles about them where the technology was mentioned also counted.

Next, they looked for companies whose stock prices had been most correlated with changes in Bitcoins price over the prior 12 months.

And lastly, they looked at membership in six blockchain-related indexes and exchange-traded funds, such as the Siren Nasdaq NexGen Economy ETF (ticker: BLCN).

On average, the 19 stocks on the list have risen 46% this year, versus 12% for the S&P 500. Bitcoin is up 86%.

Being on this list also tends to come with new risks. Most of the stocks are pricier than average. The median blockchain-related stock in the screen is trading at twice the price to earnings and enterprise value to sales multiples as the median U.S. stock.

The stocks in the list are: Marathon Digital Holdings (MARA), Riot Blockchain (RIOT), MicroStrategy (MSTR), Silvergate Capital (SI), Square (SQ), PayPal Holdings (PYPL), Overstock.com (OSTK), Nvidia (NVDA), Investview (INVU), Ideanomics (IDEX), Tesla (TSLA), JPMorgan Chase (JPM), Visa (V), Bank of New York Mellon (BK), Facebook (FB), Mastercard (MA), Broadridge Financial Solutions (BR), IBM (IBM), and Coinbase Global (COIN).

The first seven of those received the highest possible score of nine; Nvidia scored a seven; and the rest scored a six.

The main reason Coinbase isnt a nine (which it almost certainly would be) is that Goldman gives points only for stock correlation to Bitcoin if a stock has been trading for at least 12 months, and Coinbase just went public.

The list itself is not particularly novel, though it does at least create criteria for investors to consider if they want to embrace or avoid the industry. Those who believe in Bitcoin should probably just buy it outright. Dabbling in these crypto-pioneers is a poor facsimile for the real thing, and it still leaves portfolios with exposure on the downside if the industry goes south.

Write to avi.salzman@barrons.com

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19 Stocks With Exposure to Bitcoin - Barron's

Mila Kunis revealed that she gave her husband Aston Kutcher some bad financial advice.

During a recent appearance on"The Late Show with Stephen Colbert,"the 37-year-old actress spoke about Kutcher being aventure capitalistwho's built asuccessful fundover the last decade.

"The best part about him is he's really smart about including me in everything and making sure that I am aware of everything that's happening," Kunis told Colbert. "He's also really smart at knowing that sometimes, you shouldn't listen to your wife."

Kunis explained that while she offers solid advice when investing in consumer goods, she's "not the right person to ask" when it comes to venture capital opportunities.

"Early into our dating, two things came up. He was like, 'Hey, there's this company. It's kind of like a rideshare ... it's kind of like a cab company, but anybody can drive the cab," Kunis said. "I was like, 'That's the worst idea ever."

Kunis added that Kutcher tried to persuade with a demonstration, but she was still skeptical.

Kunis said: "He was like, 'Let me get you this thing. It's called Uber. Let me just order it for you. You can test this out.' And I was like, 'You're going to putmein a car with a stranger? What is wrong with you?'"

She also said that she was hesitant when Kutcher first introduced her to Bitcoin.

"Second time, it was, he sat me down and was like, 'Hey, babe, I got to explain this thing to you. Tell me if I'm crazy.' And I was like, 'Cool. What is it, babe?'" said Kunis. "He's like, 'There's this thing, it's like mining for money. It's called cryptocurrency, and there's this company' this is eight-plus years ago he's like, 'It's called Bitcoin."

The former "That 70s Show" star was concerned about investing in cryptocurrency because the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp didn't insure it.

"And I was like, 'Well, I think this is a horrible idea," Kunis continued. "And he went, 'Cool, we're investing in it.' So he didn't listen to me. I mean, this happens all the time."

Kutcher was anearly investor in Uber, Airbnb, and Spotify. He's made millions of dollars from his venture capitalist fund, A-Grade Investments, which grew from$30 million to $250 millionin six years.

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Mila Kunis warned Ashton Kutcher against investing in Uber and Bitcoin - Insider

LONDON/GUANGZHOU, China Bitcoin and other digital currencies plunged on Friday as a proposed capital gains tax hike from U.S. President Joe Biden led to a wave of selling.

At as midday EST, bitcoin was down 7.3% at $49,730, according to Coin Metrics data. It's the first time bitcoin has traded below $50,000 since early March. Ether fell to $2,320, down 8%. XRP, the fifth-biggest cryptocurrency, plunged 16%.

This wiped out more than $200 billion of value from the entire cryptocurrency market, according to data from CoinMarketCap.

"The market has run up quite a bit overall, and it'sprobably cooling off before the next leg up," Vijay Ayyar, head of business development at cryptocurrency exchange Luno, told CNBC by email.

President Biden is expected to raise long-term capital gains tax for the wealthiest Americans to 43.4%, including a surtax. That would be higher than the top federal tax rate on wage income. The new tax rate would apply to returns on assets held in taxable accounts and sold after more than a year.

This triggered a sell-off in stock markets overnight, with all three major U.S. indexes ending Thursday's session in the red. Analysts said fears over Biden's capital gains tax proposal may be extending to crypto investors, who have had a great year with the price of bitcoin having climbed more than sixfold in the last 12 months.

Still, one crypto entrepreneur said Biden could be doing his industry a favor.

"It would make even greater sense to play that oldest trick in the manage-your-finances-smart book: borrow against your assets to avoid capital gains taxes," said Antoni Trenchev, co-founder of crypto lender Nexo.

"And what better collateral than one that despite today's price dip, likely caused by the said proposal appreciates in value like Bitcoin?"

"Things are getting more established," Eric Demuth, CEO and co-founder of digital asset broker Bitpanda, told CNBC's "Squawk Box Europe" Friday. "The more money that gets into the market, the less volatility there will be."

"And for the retail investors who are going in there, the strategy is always never to put everything in one basket and just put a very small fraction of your portfolio into cryptocurrency, into bitcoin. It doesn't matter if you are a strong believer or not, the diversification of your assets is key."

However, concerns over a regulatory crackdown on bitcoin continue to cloud the market. Jesse Powell, CEO of a major cryptocurrency exchange called Kraken, warned governments could clamp down on the use of bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies.

India is planning to introduce a law to ban the trading or even ownership of cryptocurrencies, Reuters reported last month. In February, U.S. Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen called bitcoin a "highly speculative asset" and said she was worried about potential losses for investors.

Authorities around the world are looking into how to regulate bitcoin. The Deputy Governor of the People's Bank of China, called bitcoin an "investment alternative" last week, which marked a more progressive tone on cryptocurrencies after a fierce crackdown by the country's regulators on the industry in 2017 and 2018.

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Over $200 billion wiped off cryptocurrency market in a day as bitcoin plunges below $50,000 - CNBC

The price of bitcoin dropped below the psychologically important $50,000 level on Friday, as worries over rising U.S. taxes filtered over to cryptocurrencies, adding to recent pressure already simmering on those alternative investments.

Bitcoin prices BTCUSD, -3.64% last changed hands at $47,659, a slide of 12% over 24 hours and a level not seen since early March, according to Coindesk. Losses were spread across other cryptocurrencies, with ether ETHUSD, -2.96%, on the ethereum network, also droppping around 13% over the same time period, trading at $2,120. XRP XRPUSD, -11.96%, which is pegged to Ripple, has lost 22% in 24 hours, last trading at $1.01.

The fresh losses for bitcoin represent around a 26% drop from a recent peak of $64,829 for the cryptocurrency. A 20% drop meets the widely accepted definition of a correction. Bitcoin saw a sharp slide last weekend, though the cryptocurrencys volatility mean slides of more than 10% are not unusual. Fears of increased regulation were at the heart of last Sundays pullback.

Fridays losses come on the heels of a more-than 300-point loss for the Dow industrials DJIA, +0.75% after a media report that President Joe Biden is weighing a plan to nearly double capital-gains tax on the wealthy.

It is clear thatBitcoinis more sensitive to capital gains tax threats than most asset classes. The threat of regulation, either directly in developed markets or indirectly via the taxman, has always been cryptos Achilless heel, in my opinion, said Jeffrey Halley, senior market analyst at Oanda, to clients in a note.

Halley said the next bitcoin level hes watching out for is $42,000, which might come this weekend, or next week or perhaps not at all.

Hopefully, we will hear as many experts saying this is a sign ofbitcoinbecoming a maturing mainstream asset if it falls 10% this weekend, as we do when it rises, or a crypto-exchange chooses to IPO, he said.

A number of analysts have warned of a near-term downturn for bitcoin as the cryptocurrency has continued to track lower after reaching an all-time peak above $64,000 following the direct listing of cryptocurrency platform Coinbase COIN, +0.46%.

Opinion:Warren Buffett could teach traders in dogecoin, GameStop and other hot trends a few things about Mr. Market

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Bitcoin drops below $50,000, dented in part by rising U.S. tax worries - MarketWatch

A sudden recent drop in the price of bitcoin suggests the digital currencys yearlong rally might finally be running out of steam.

Bitcoin fell as much as 17% on Saturday to $52,149, with about half the decline occurring in about 20 minutes late in the evening Eastern Time. Although it recovered some of those losses by Monday morning, the price has steadily declined this week. It was trading at $49,334 early Friday.

Bitcoin topped out at $64,829 on April 14, the same day Coinbase Global Inc., the biggest U.S. cryptocurrency exchange, went public in a highly anticipated offering. The two events marked the pinnacle of a heady rally for cryptocurrencies that began last year. Bitcoins price more than tripled in 2020 and doubled to start 2021 before slipping.

Yet that momentum lately has been showing signs of flagging, said Michael Oliver of the research firm Momentum Structural Analysis. Since bitcoin crossed $60,000 in March for the first time, its pace of gains has slowed and it has traded in a relatively narrow range. That was a sign, he said, that the rally could falter, as it finally did over the weekend.

We think bitcoins broken for the time being, he said, pointing to technical trend lines.

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Behind Bitcoins Recent Slide: Imploding Bets and Forced Liquidations - The Wall Street Journal

Bitcoin is setting up for a near-term downturn that could see it shed a good chunk of its recent gains, even if the longer-term outlook appears healthy for the worlds No. 1 crypto.

Thats the view of a number of analysts after bitcoin prices BTCUSD, -3.70% breached a key technical level following the exuberance for digital assets in the wake of Coinbase Globals COIN, +0.44% listing on the Nasdaq last week.

Bitcoin was off 1.8% late-morning Wednesday in New York, changing hands at around $56,000 on CoinDesk. That puts the crypto about 14% below its all-time peak at $64,829.14.

On Tuesday, researchers at Bespoke Investment Group noted that Tuesday marked bitcoins first time, in a 24-hour period, in which it fell below its 50-day moving average since at least 2014, after recording 193 straight days of prints above that level. Bitcoin was first created back in 2008-09.

Market technicians use moving averages as barometers of bullish and bearish trends in an asset.

Pankaj Balani, CEO of Delta Exchange, in emailed comments, said that bitcoin has managed to hold above its 50-day moving average in recent trade but warned that a sustained breach of the short-term price could lead to a slide to around $40,000.

The 50 DMA has been a crucial support forBitcoinsince October last year and it has held this support every time in this rally. This time around however, we seeBitcoins momentum fizzling out and BTC struggling to hold this support, Balani explained.

The Bespoke researchers noted that bitcoin tends to see declines, in the one-week, one-month, three-month periods, after upward trends lasting at least 100 days are snapped.

One week later, [bitcoin] was down all four times for a median decline of 4.6% and declines all four times. One and three months later, performance was even worse with median declines of 6.5% and 13.4%, respectively, the report read.

Researchers at JPMorgan Chase & Co. JPM, +1.95%, including Nikolaos Panigirtzoglou, wrote in a Tuesday report that waning momentum for bitcoin could spell a spiral lower for the volatile asset. The analysts said a failure to retake $60,000 could be the trigger for a sharp drop.

The JPMorgan strategist point to bearish trends in bitcoin futures markets BTC.1, -5.79%, where institutional and professional investors go to hedge their exposures to the crypto.

Referring to the attached chart, JPMorgan says that the four episodes of greater than a 10% decline in their futures position proxy, including the one over the past few days, have been attributed to an inability to trend higher.

Similar to the previous three episodes, it is likely that momentum traders, such as [commodity trading advisors] and crypto funds, were at least partly behind the buildup of long bitcoin futures in recent weeks and thus also likely behind the unwinding over the past few days, JPMorgan concluded.

If the bitcoin price fails to break out above $60,000 soon, the momentum signals shown in Figure 9 will naturally decay from here for several months, given their still elevated level, the analysts wrote.

JPMorgan researchers arent 100% sure that this time bitcoin will follow a decline with a strong snap back higher as was seen in November and in mid-February. Notably, the analysts say that flows into bitcoin have been tepid and the downturn appears to be gathering steam.

So far this year bitcoin prices have been buoyant, up 94% year to date. By comparison, gold GC00, -0.25%, which is seen as a rival to bitcoin, is down 5.5% in 2021. The Dow Jones Industrial Average DJIA, +0.75% and the S&P 500 index SPX, +1.20% are both up around 11% in the year to date.

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Bitcoin bears are stalking crypto prices --- here's how low they could go - MarketWatch

Bitcoin replica coins are seen on November 13, 2017

Jaap Arriens/NurPhoto via Getty Images

The price of bitcoin slipped to a near one-month low Thursday after a record-shattering week ahead of Coinbase's listing on April 14 in which the world's largest cryptocurrency broke consecutive records above the $63,000-level.

Bitcoin slipped to $53,318 at 2:01 p.m. ET to its lowest since March 24. It was trading lower by 4% to 53,519 at 2:18 p.m. ET.

"BTC has slipped below the 50 [day moving average] support that it held sacrosanct through this rally, and looks like there is more downside here," Pankaj Balani, CEO of Delta Exchange, told Insider.

The slide in bitcoin may also be attributed to the rise in other coins, particularly ether, which has been taking center stage, Paolo Ardoino, CTO of Bitfinex, told Insider.

Ether spiked as much as 8.5% on Thursday to a new record high above $2,560, pushing the market capitalization of the cryptocurrency near $300 billion for the first time.

"ETH has outperformed BTC this month and looks set to challenge its [all-time high]," Ardoino said, maintaining that bitcoin's place as a safe haven asset and hedge against inflation is still gathering strength.

The volatility of bitcoin however has steadily been decreasing over time, Stephen Ehrlich, co-founder and CEO at Voyager Digital, a crypto asset broker, told Insider. Even the recent sharp moves have not seen such a big rise in volatility compared to historically, he said.

Buy Bitcoin Worldwide

Overall, experts including Ryan Conway, SVP and head of business development & strategic partnerships at Oxygen, a digital banking platform, remain bullish on bitcoin.

"Although there are several external factors that could lead to short-term swings this week, I am bullish on bitcoin long term as it has proven to demonstrate real utility as a store of value with the potential to replace gold or even major fiat currencies as a hedge against inflation," he told Insider.

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Bitcoin is at its lowest level in nearly a month. 2 experts explain why they see more weakness ahead. - Markets Insider

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Canadas largest digital-asset investment fund manager 3iQ Corp. is hoping to raise more than $200 million by listing its Bitcoin exchange-traded fund in Dubai, according to its chief executive officer.

The intent of listing on the Nasdaq Dubai exchange is to get trading at all hours around the globe, said CEO Fred Pye. We trade on the North American market times and Dubai is almost perfectly opposite of what our trading hours are, he told Bloomberg TV.

3iQ was founded in 2012 and has about $1.5 billion in assets. Its 3iQ Coinshares Bitcoin ETF, which listed on the Toronto Stock Exchange last year, is now set to become the first cryptocurrency fund to go public in the Middle East.

Dubai-based Dalma Capital Management Ltd. is the syndicate manager for the offering.

The Canadian fund is also looking to work closely with lenders in the region. Not only the banks in the UAE but also potential banks from other countries in the region, Pye said.

Bitcoin surged past the $63,000 mark earlier this month, its highest ever, before paring gains. JPMorgan Chase & Co. strategists recently said if the largest cryptocurrency isnt able to break back above $60,000 soon, momentum signals will collapse.

Read: Crypto Stock Mania Tested by Sliding Prices, Bitcoin Slump

Pye is hopeful, though. Bitcoin could rise to $100,000 in the next three years because of supply scarcity, according to him.

Right now, weve seen Bitcoin consolidate in the $50,000-$60,000 range, we expect that to continue, he said.

Before it's here, it's on the Bloomberg Terminal.

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First Mideast Bitcoin ETF Aims to Raise More Than $200 Million - Bloomberg

Central to the Bitcoin investment thesis is increasing adoption, which can take on a variety of forms.

One of those forms is companies stashing Bitcoin on their balance sheet a move thats in its nascent stages, but one that could ultimately prove potent for prices of the largest cryptocurrency. Tesla is one name that comes to mind, as the electric vehicle maker added $1.5 billion worth of the digital asset to its balance sheet earlier this year.

However, Tesla is not the company with the largest Bitcoin holdings. According to data presented by Aksje Bloggen, MicroStrategy, Tesla, and Square, as the three leading public companies on this list, together hold $7.6bn in Bitcoins. MicroStrategy alone, as the biggest investor, has over $5bn in Bitcoin assets, notes the research firm.

Treating Bitcoin as a substitute for cash, even in small increments, can be a practical strategy for multiple reasons.

First, the cryptocurrency can appreciate far more rapidly than traditional currencies. Second, with interest rates low in the U.S., cash instruments and short-term bonds arent going to generate much in the way of returns for investors corporate or otherwise.

For its part, MicroStrategy proves a company can be a Bitcoin devotee.

According to the companys financial report from March, MicroStrategy spent over $2.2bn to acquire 91,579 Bitcoins, which are now worth over $5bn. That means the company doubled its investment in less than a year. The downside is that, unlike Tesla, MicroStrategy used more than $1.6bn in convertible debt to finance them, notes Aksje Bloggen.

With Tesla entering the Bitcoin arena in a big way, some market observers are speculating about what well-known companies could be next, with some saying Apple or Amazon make for logical embracers of Bitcoin. Time will tell if that happens, but theres also a runway for more fintech companies to follow Squares lead.

As the third-biggest Bitcoin buyer among public companies, Square Inc, spent $200 million to buy 8,027 Bitcoins. Today, the US financial services and digital payments company holds almost half a billion dollars in BTC assets, continues Askje Bloggen. With big companies rushing to invest significant amounts of money into the worlds leading cryptocurrency, Bitcoins price is expected to continue rising.

For more news, information, and strategy, visit the Crypto Channel.

The opinions and forecasts expressed herein are solely those of Tom Lydon, and may not actually come to pass. Information on this site should not be used or construed as an offer to sell, a solicitation of an offer to buy, or a recommendation for any product.

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Why Bitcoin Is Making Its Way onto the Balance Sheet - ETF Trends

More women are investing in cryptocurrency, as Coinbase Global Inc.s initial public offering and bitcoins recent record-setting high help bring the asset class further into the mainstream.

Several cryptocurrency exchanges and online brokerage firms are reporting an increase in the number of women trading crypto in the past year. Some are expecting that number to rise further, thanks in part to investors greater awareness of the asset class, their desire to buy into hot markets and the promise of boosting their savings. At the same time, some people who are using volatile markets to save expose themselves to the risk of having months of gains wiped out when the winds shift.

One in four customers who traded crypto so far in 2021 on the Robinhood Markets Inc. platform is a woman, said Christine Brown, chief operating officer of Robinhood Crypto. The firm said fewer women trade crypto on its platform than trade stocks and exchange-traded funds. Over the past two years, digital trading platform eToro Group Ltd. said the number of female crypto traders in the U.S. on its platform has jumped by half, to about 20% of all users in the U.S.

Women should have an equal seat at the table when it comes to cryptocurrency investing, Ms. Brown said.

Anthony Denier, chief executive at Webull Financial LLC, is surprised there arent more female crypto traders on the firms platform, owing in part to the availability of information about cryptocurrency investing online and womens increased interest in managing their portfolios. About 21% of the crypto traders on the firms platform are female, a number he said is rising.

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Women Step Up Trading in Bitcoin, Other Cryptocurrencies - The Wall Street Journal