Stocks of Bitcoin (BTC) miners are marching higher amid speculation of takeovers sweeping across the cryptocurrency sector.
Shares of miners such as Stronghold (SDIG) and TeraWulf (WULF) each rose more than 15% on June 6.
Other crypto mining stocks, such as Iris Energy (IREN), Mawson (MIGI), and Cathedra (CBIT) gained 10% each.
The gains come as one of the largest Bitcoin miners, Riot Platforms (RIOT), launched a hostile takeover bid for rival Bitfarms (BITF).
At the same time, artificial intelligence (A.I.) firm CoreWeave proposed buying crypto miner CoreScientific (CORZ).
The takeovers signal to investors and analysts that the cryptocurrency mining industry is ripe for consolidation.
Analysts at JPMorgan Chase (JPM) say that the sector is likely to experience mergers and acquisitions following the Bitcoin halving event this past April, which reduced the amount of available BTC that can be mined going forward.
Additionally, JPMorgan says that A.I. and cloud computing companies that are looking to diversify their power sources could target Bitcoin miners.
In a note to clients, JPMorgan Chase said that merger and acquisition activity across the sector is likely to intensify in coming months.
The analysts conclude that larger Bitcoin miners such as Riot Platforms and Marathon Digital (MARA) are in the best position to lead the industry consolidation.
The price of Bitcoin has risen 62% this year and currently trades at $71,500 U.S.
