HIVE Blockchain’s future looks precarious, this analyst says

Investors interested in the cryptocurrency space need look no further than mining company HIVE Blockchain (HIVE Blockchain Stock Quote, Chart TSXV:HIVE) to get a glimpse at what falling prices for bitcoin and ethereum can do to a company in the space, says Horizons ETFs analyst Brooke Thackray, who cautions that with bitcoin edging close to a crucial $6,000 support level, heading any lower could spell big trouble for HIVE.

Bitcoin is about to celebrate a 10-year anniversary of sorts, as it was on October 31, 2008, that someone (or someones —the identity remains a mystery) by the name of Satoshi Nakamoto published the paper, “Bitcoin: A Peer-to-Peer Electronic Cash System” that jumpstarted the cryptographic process which resulted in bitcoin’s launch just a few months later.

But while bitcoin’s rise and fall over the past year and a half is well-known, what the future holds for it and its crypto-cousins is unclear. Ethereum, HIVE Blockchain’s central mining focus, recently experienced a hitch in its development, as the upgrade called Constantinople had to be delayed until January, 2019. Like bitcoin, ethereum has seen both tremendous highs and now humbling lows, with the currency now priced at $202.00, a low not seen since July, 2017. (All figures in US dollars unless noted otherwise.)

The downward plunge in cryptocurrency prices has clearly impacted the fortunes of mining companies like HIVE, says Thackray, who spoke to BNN Bloomberg.

HIVE Blockchain stock chart mirrors bitcoin chart

“If you take a look at the graph for HIVE you can see that it looks very similar to bitcoin,” he says. “On bitcoin’s [chart], it’s really what we call a descending triangle in technical terms: each of the highs is lower going all the way across and we’re at support at about US$6,000. If we do see it break below that support, we would see negative repercussions where it actually might go much lower than that. And that would reflect back onto HIVE as well.”

HIVE, which began trading in September, 2017, saw its share price rise from C$0.74 to as high as C$6.75 just two months later. The decline was almost as swift, however, with the stock currently trading at C$0.60.

HIVE last reported earnings on August 29, showing Q1/2019 income from currency mining of $10.6 million and an adjusted EBITDA of $3.5 million.