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Along with Cannabis, Electric Vehicles, and 3D printers, the Cryptocurrency space is one of the leading emerging growth spaces in the stock market over recent weeks as the price of coins such as Ethereum and Bitcoin ramp to unprecedented levels on growing legitimacy and acceptance among established institutions, including Wall Street and corporate titans such as Tesla, PayPal, Microstrategy, and Square.

But the upside is still potentially huge given the possibility that Bitcoin could reach market cap parity with gold as the core alt-currency stores of value in the global asset landscape, where it still lags as just a fraction of the size of the classic yellow metal.

With that in mind, we take a look at some of the top speculative plays in the Bitcoin stock space, including: Riot Blockchain Inc (NASDAQ:RIOT), Epazz Inc (OTCMKTS:EPAZ), and Marathon Patent Group Inc (NASDAQ:MARA).

Riot Blockchain Inc (NASDAQ:RIOT) shares have vaulted higher as Bitcoin has powered ahead over recent months. The stock is perhaps the most well-known pure play in the space, so its move in step with BTC shouldn’t come as a surprise.

The company’s primary mining facility is located in Massena, New York under a colocation agreement with Coinmint.

Riot Blockchain Inc (NASDAQ:RIOT) most recently announced the appointment of Jason Les as Chief Executive Officer, and that Hannah Cho has been appointed to the Company’s Board of Directors, as an independent director. Mr. Les has been deeply involved with Bitcoin since 2013, with significant experience in both mining and as an engineer studying protocol development and contributing to open-source projects.

“In early 2020, Riot made the strategic decision to completely focus on expanding its mining capabilities, which has positioned the Company well to take advantage of significant opportunities in the current Bitcoin environment,” said Benjamin Yi, Chairman of the Board of Directors.

The context for this announcement is a bit of a bid, with shares acting well over the past five days, up about 60% in that timeframe.

Riot Blockchain Inc (NASDAQ:RIOT) generated sales of $2.5M, according to information released in the company’s most recent quarterly financial report. That adds up to a sequential quarter-over-quarter growth rate of 26.8% on the top line. In addition, the company has a strong balance sheet, with cash levels far exceeding current liabilities ($39.1M against $1.3M).

Epazz Inc (OTCMKTS:EPAZ) promulgates itself as a provider of blockchain apps and a cloud-based software company specializing in providing customized cloud applications to the corporate world, higher-education institutions, and the public sector.

Epazz BoxesOS v3.0 is a complete web-based software package for small- to mid-size businesses, Fortune 500 enterprises, government agencies and higher education institutions. BoxesOS provides many of the web-based applications organizations would otherwise need to purchase separately. Epazz’s other products include K9Sky.com kennel software and the Provitrac applicant tracking system.

Epazz Inc (OTCMKTS:EPAZ) most recently announced that the company is developing the Greenheart DeFi mobile application to trade Greenheart Punt tokens as the first distributed application (dApp) marketplace for Cannabidiol (CBD) oils products.

According to the release, Greenheart CBD is an Irish owned company with a vision to bring the finest Irish made Cannabidiol (CBD) oils products from seed to shelf in Ireland. The company helps farmers to produce the best organic hemp crops and process them through cold press extraction machinery in the most natural way possible. The company has spent years researching extraction methods with full traceability from seed to shelf. It aims to create standardized cold-press extraction procedures and create the most effective CBD products for the end consumer.

Shaun Passley, Ph.D., CEO, and Chairman of Epazz, Inc., said in a comment: “What differentiates Greenheart Punt tokens from other tokens and cryptocurrencies is its sustainability. Greenheart CBD hemp company is profitable and revenue-producing. Global expansion through its DeFi platform is the next step in global expansion.”

The context for this announcement is a bit of a bid, with shares acting well over the past five days, up about 21% in that timeframe.

Epazz Inc (OTCMKTS:EPAZ) generated sales of $410K, according to information released in the company’s most recent quarterly financial report. That adds up to a sequential quarter-over-quarter growth rate of 10% on the top line. In addition, the company is battling some balance sheet hurdles, with cash levels struggling to keep up with current liabilities ($56K against $288K, respectively).

Marathon Patent Group Inc (NASDAQ:MARA) mines cryptocurrencies with a focus on the blockchain ecosystem and the generation of digital assets. The company currently operates its proprietary Data Center in Hardin MT with a maximum power capacity of 105 Megawatts.

Once fully deployed, the Company will have 21,500 Antminer Bitmain S-19 Pro Bitcoin Miners in operation at this facility. The Company also owns 2,060 advanced ASIC Bitcoin Miners at a co-hosted facility in North Dakota.

Marathon Patent Group Inc (NASDAQ:MARA) most recently announced that it and DMG Blockchain Solutions Inc. have entered into a non-binding memorandum of understanding to form Digital Currency Miners of North America, which will be a U.S.-based non-profit entity whose mission is to create a better mining environment for North American miners, to help improve their financial performance, and to create North America’s first cooperative mining pool.

According to the release, Marathon Patent Group and DMG’s U.S. subsidiary, Blockseer, are working together to establish DCMNA, a non-profit entity focused on North American digital currency opportunities, including decentralizing the Bitcoin hashrate and providing more transparency for North American miners. DCMNA’s principal initiative is to create North America’s first cooperative mining pool by licensing Blockseer’s mining pool to all DCMNA members in a cooperative structure. Mining partners who are members will receive rebates based on the hash rate they contribute to the overall pool, thus improving the mining profitability of DCMNA members.

And the stock has been acting well over recent days, up something like 44% in that time. Marathon Patent Group Inc (NASDAQ:MARA) generated sales of $835K, according to information released in the company’s most recent quarterly financial report. That adds up to a sequential quarter-over-quarter growth rate of 191.9% on the top line. In addition, the company has a strong balance sheet, with cash levels far exceeding current liabilities ($17.7M against $1.1M).