Bitcoin miners have not seen the same gains as Bitcoin itself, with Mara and Riot underperforming the crypto over the past three years. Investing directly in Bitcoin may be a smarter move than in these capital-intensive mining companies.

Bitcoin’s price surge of over 450% in the past three years has attracted investments in companies like Strategy, which saw its stock rise nearly 1,000%. However, top Bitcoin miners, Mara Holdings and Riot Platforms, saw more modest stock increases during the same period.

Mara and Riot, originally non-mining companies, shifted focus to Bitcoin mining. They added mined Bitcoin to their balance sheets, selling some to generate cash. However, they issued more shares and took on debt to fund their operations, leading to share dilution.

Despite growing Bitcoin hoards valued at billions of dollars, some investors may prefer direct Bitcoin investments over mining stocks. The increasing difficulty of mining due to halvings every four years could pose challenges for miners like Mara and Riot in sustaining their businesses.

Investing in mining companies like Mara and Riot, facing energy cost challenges and Bitcoin supply halvings, may not be as profitable as investing directly in Bitcoin or ETFs. Some miners are exploring AI tasks to diversify, but long-term success remains uncertain.

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Author Leo Sun has no position in mentioned stocks. The Motley Fool has positions in and recommends Bitcoin and Ethereum. The views expressed in the article are solely those of the author and do not reflect Nasdaq, Inc.’s views.

Read more at Nasdaq: Bitcoin Mining Stocks Are Decoupling From the Price of Bitcoin. Here’s What Investors Need to Know.