Shares of Stronghold Digital Mining jumped 52% on Wednesday’s first trading day; Investors showed enthusiasm for cryptocurrency-related startups.
The symbol “SDIG” is traded on the Nasdaq, and the Pennsylvania-based company that mines bitcoin from waste coal is priced its shares at $19 per share, above the expected range of $16 to $18.
The stock closed at $28.9, after rising to $31.9. This gives the company a market capitalization of $1.3 billion, based on the number of fully diluted shares.
Stronghold’s inclusion coincided with Bitcoin hitting an all-time high on Wednesday, at $67,000.
The rally came a day after the launch of the first bitcoin-linked fund to trade on a US exchange. Proshares Bitcoin Strategy is expected to be the first of many such funds, making it possible to access Bitcoin in several ways for investors with a brokerage account.
According to CNBC, Stronghold CEO Greg Beard said the company chose to go public rather than going the SPAC route, which has been an increasingly popular way to access the market in the past two years.
. Bird promoted the credibility that comes with an IPO
“I think we get a lot more attention from investors because we’ve been vetted by the SEC in the usual way,” he added.