Latest news with #CLARITYAct
Globe and Mail
18 hours ago
- Business
- Globe and Mail
Regulatory Tailwinds Likely to Drive Cryptocurrency Momentum: 5 Picks
The cryptocurrency market has been witnessing a strong rally this month. Bitcoin (BTC), the largest cryptocurrency globally, touched the all-time high of 123,091.61 on July 14. Thereafter, it hovers around 118,000. Ethereum (ETH) rebounded sharply and is up more than 57% in the past month. Positive developments on the global tariff and trade front and the evaporation of a near-term recession fear in the U.S. economy boosted cryptocurrencies. Meanwhile, this space gathers momentum predominantly through favorable regulatory developments. At this stage, it should be fruitful to invest in crypto-centric stocks with a favorable Zacks Rank for near-term gain. Five such stocks are: Robinhood Markets Inc. HOOD, Interactive Brokers Group Inc. IBKR, IREN Ltd. IREN, Visa Inc. V and Cipher Mining Inc. CIFR. Regulatory Tailwinds On July 18, President Donald Trump signed the GENIUS Act (Guiding and Establishing National Innovation for US Stablecoins) seeking to regulate the stablecoin market of the nation. Stablecoins are digital assets that are built to maintain a stable value relative to a 'stable' asset like the US dollar. Giant retailers such as Walmart and Amazon are considering launching their own stablecoins to reduce dependence on traditional payment networks like plastic money. Two major cryptocurrency-related regulations still pending are The CLARITY Act and The Anti-CBDC Surveillance State Act. The CLARITY Act aims to define when crypto is a commodity or a security. The CLARITY Act would establish a regulatory framework for digital assets other than stablecoins. This will allow crypto exchanges to register with the Commodity Futures Trading Commission thereby reducing the Securities and Exchange Commission's regulation of digital currencies. The Anti-CBDC Surveillance State Act aims to prevent the Federal Reserve from issuing a Central Bank Digital Currency (CBDC) directly to individuals or indirectly through intermediaries. The bill also prohibits the Federal Reserve from developing or issuing a CBDC without explicit authorization from Congress. The chart below shows the price performance of our five picks in the past month. Robinhood Markets Inc. Robinhood Markets operates a financial services platform in the United States. Its platform allows users to invest in stocks, exchange-traded funds, options, gold, and cryptocurrencies. HOOD buys and sells Bitcoin, Ethereum, Dogecoin, and other cryptocurrencies using its Robinhood Crypto platform. Given the higher retail participation in markets, HOOD's trading revenues are expected to improve in the near future. Buyouts and product diversification efforts to become a leader in the active trader market will likely bolster its financials. HOOD's vertical integration will likely enhance its product velocity. Further, a robust liquidity position will help HOOD in sustainable share repurchases. HOOD currently sports a Zacks Rank #1 (Strong Buy). You can see the complete list of today's Zacks #1 Rank stocks here. Robinhood Markets has an expected revenue and earnings growth rate of 26.8% and 20.2%, respectively, for the current year. The Zacks Consensus Estimate for current-year earnings has improved 6.5% over the last 30 days. Interactive Brokers Group Inc. Zacks Rank #1 Interactive Brokers Group is a global automated electronic broker. IBKR executes, processes and trades in cryptocurrencies. IBKR's commodities futures trading desk also offers customers a chance to trade cryptocurrency futures. IBKR's efforts to develop proprietary software, lower compensation expenses relative to net revenues, enhance its emerging market customers and global footprint, along with relatively high rates, are expected to continue aiding revenues. IBKR's initiatives to expand its product suite and the reach of its services will support financials. Interactive Brokers Group has an expected revenue and earnings growth rate of 7.4% and 9.7%, respectively, for the current year. The Zacks Consensus Estimate for current-year earnings has improved 9.7% in the last 30 days. IREN Ltd. IREN is a Bitcoin mining company. IREN builds, owns and operates data center infrastructure with a focus on entry into regions where it can access abundant and/or under-utilized renewable energy to power its operations. IREN currently carries a Zacks Rank #2 (Buy). IREN has an expected revenue and earnings growth rate of 86.1% and more than 100%, respectively, for the current year (ending June 2026). The Zacks Consensus Estimate for current-year earnings has improved 17.3% over the last 30 days. Visa Inc. Zacks Rank #2 Visa's ongoing shift to digital payments is advantageous for Visa, with strong domestic volumes supporting its overall performance. V is taking a significant step toward modernizing cross-border money movement. In a move aimed at enhancing the efficiency of global transactions, V is expanding its stablecoin settlement capabilities to the high-performing Solana blockchain. This expansion of V includes collaboration with prominent merchant acquirers Worldpay and Nuvei, marking a pivotal development in the world of digital payments. Visa has an expected revenue and earnings growth rate of 10.3% and 13.1%, respectively, for the current year (ending September 2025). The Zacks Consensus Estimate for current-year earnings has improved 0.1% over the last 30 days. Cipher Mining Inc. Zacks Rank #2 Cipher Mining is an industrial-scale bitcoin mining company. CIFR also offers high-performance computing (HPC) services, such as artificial intelligence. CIFR continues to develop its pipeline of power capacity at high-quality data center sites, either for bitcoin mining or HPC. Cipher Mining has an expected revenue and earnings growth rate of 72% and -150%, respectively, for the current year. The Zacks Consensus Estimate for current-year earnings has improved 18.6% in the last 60 days. Higher. Faster. Sooner. Buy These Stocks Now A small number of stocks are primed for a breakout, and you have a chance to get in before they take off. At any given time, there are only 220 Zacks Rank #1 Strong Buys. On average, this list more than doubles the S&P 500. We've combed through the latest Strong Buys and selected 7 compelling companies likely to jump sooner and climb higher than any other stock you could buy this month. You'll learn everything you need to know about these exciting trades in our brand-new Special Report, 7 Best Stocks for the Next 30 Days. Download the report free now >> Want the latest recommendations from Zacks Investment Research? Today, you can download 7 Best Stocks for the Next 30 Days. Click to get this free report Visa Inc. (V): Free Stock Analysis Report Interactive Brokers Group, Inc. (IBKR): Free Stock Analysis Report Robinhood Markets, Inc. (HOOD): Free Stock Analysis Report Cipher Mining Inc. (CIFR): Free Stock Analysis Report IREN Limited (IREN): Free Stock Analysis Report
CNBC
18 hours ago
- Business
- CNBC
Here are Tuesday's biggest analyst calls: Apple, Tesla, CoreWeave, Microsoft, Dell, IBM, Disney, Coinbase & more
Here are the biggest calls on Wall Street on Tuesday: Goldman Sachs reiterates Microsoft as buy Goldman says it's bullish heading into earnings on Wednesday. "Microsoft is well-positioned to capitalize on this shift with a more capital efficient and higher margin recurring revenue model, just as it did during the on-prem to cloud transition." RBC downgrades Domino's Pizza to sector perform from outperform RBC said in its downgrade of Domino's that it sees slowing same-store sales growth. "Elevated potential for slowing US SSS in '26 could limit multiple expansion." Oppenheimer reiterates Apple as perform Oppenheimer says it's sticking with its perform rating ahead of earnings on Thursday. "We take a neutral view into AAPL's F3Q25 earnings. We expect investors to focus on the revenue outlook for F4Q25 after normalizing the potential FX tailwind, Services revenue growth and the sales trend in Greater China." Citi reiterates Coinbase as buy Citi raised its price target on the stock to $505 per share from $270. "Coinbase has enjoyed several catalysts in recent weeks, including: (i) signing of the GENIUS Act (stablecoins), (ii) House passage of the CLARITY Act (market structure), and (iii) inclusion in the S & P 500." Rosenblatt initiates IonQ as buy Rosenblatt says the stock is an "attractive way to gain exposure to the quantum computing market, a market that we see as the next era of computing." "We are initiating coverage of IonQ with a Buy rating and $70 12-month price target." Bank of America reiterates Roblox as buy The firm raised its price target to $133 per share from $103. "We see an extended runway for mid-20% growth as users worldwide adopt Roblox's Metaverse, in a virtuous cycle that will draw developers, brands, and merchants to the platform." Bank of America reiterates Advanced Micro Devices as buy Bank of America raised its price target on the stock to $200 per share from $175 ahead of earnings next week. "Particularly, we also flag AMD now has a comfortable ASP premium over INTC, +17% on average in PCs, +64% in servers." Bank of America reiterates IBM as buy Bank of America said shares of IBM have more room to run. "We view IBM as a defensive investment given its high exposure to recurring sales, cost cutting levers, solid balance sheet, potential share gains, and relatively stable margins." RBC reiterates Tesla as outperform RBC raised its price target to $325 per share from $319. "Should Tesla be successful on all of its goals, its valuation could far exceed even current levels. The Austin robotaxi launch has been better than many feared and the company is looking to expand in more cities." Raymond James upgrades Blackline to outperform from market perform Raymond James says the software application company is well positioned. "...but we're now adding BL to that list where we see the potential for a narrative shift to occur over the coming quarters coincident with improved bookings and profitability support." Deutsche Bank reiterates CoreWeave as hold The firm says it's sticking with its hold rating ahead of earnings in mid-August. "We anticipate another solid topline beat when CoreWeave reports results on August 12th as the company continues to scale its cloud business at an unprecedented rate." Bank of America downgrades Tapestry to neutral from buy Bank of America said in its downgrade of Tapestry that shares of the owner of brands like Coach are close to fair value. "The Coach brand has several more quarters of outsized growth ahead, but the 66% YTD surge in the stock price (vs S & P +9%) leaves the shares close to fair value, in our view, and we are downgrading to Neutral." Bank of America downgrades Whirlpool to underperform from neutral The firm says it sees too many negative catalysts for the appliance company. "We downgrade Whirlpool ( WHR) to Underperform (from Neutral) and lower our PO to $70 (from $100) following disappointing 2Q25 earnings/guidance and dividend cut." Read more. Guggenheim upgrades Generac to buy from neutral Guggenheim says the battery backup company is well positioned. "We are upgrading our investment recommendation for GNRC to Buy from Neutral and establishing a $190 price target. We believe that greater focus on commercial-scale opportunities, combined with the potential for a withdrawal from the troubled residential solar + storage business, support a more positive stance." JPMorgan reiterates Disney as overweight JPMorgan raised its price target on the stock to $138 per share from $130. "While we are cautious on the media landscape due to PayTV sub losses and advertising headwinds, Disney is our favorite in the group due to the company's unique content, improving streaming financials, and parks operation, which provides an avenue to attractively deploy capital."
CNBC
18 hours ago
- Business
- CNBC
Citigroup hikes price target on Coinbase, sees room for shares to rise more than 30%
Coinbase stands to gain from legislative momentum as well as stronger bitcoin prices and improved custodial fee revenue, according to Citigroup Global Markets. Analyst Peter Christiansen reiterated his buy rating on the crypto services provider and lifted his price target by 87%, to $505 from $270. The new target suggests the stock still has roughly 33% potential upside. Shares of Coinbase have rallied about 52% this year, helped by the Trump administration's favorable attitude toward cryptocurrencies and the entire financial ecosystem surrounding them. "Coinbase has enjoyed several catalysts in recent weeks, including: (i) signing of the GENIUS Act (stablecoins), (ii) House passage of the CLARITY Act (market structure), and (iii) inclusion in the S & P 500," Christiansen said in a 27=age report to clients published Monday. "We also believe investors are beginning to place a premium on blockchain innovations applicable for real-world activities." COIN 1Y mountain Coinbase stock performance over the past year. Christiansen said his new price target is driven by the quarterly rise in crypto prices of between 40% and 45%, and a better yield on Coinbase's Subs-n-Services revenue. The analyst expects Coinbase's integration of stablecoin USDC and new product announcements, such as its card partnership with American Express and new payments features, will lift Coinbase One subscriber growth. Coinbase in June announced that the American Express card will be available exclusively to U.S. members of the company's monthly subscription product Coinbase One, which offers zero trading fees and other perks. "We continue to see upside for COIN from adding futures and options as well as benefiting from its category leadership in the forthcoming regulated era of crypto," Christiansen said.
Business Insider
5 days ago
- Business
- Business Insider
3 Small-Cap Stocks Rated ‘Strong Buy' With Over 60% Upside Potential
In a choppy market, investors continue to look for stocks with high conviction from Wall Street. The three companies below each earn a Strong Buy consensus and offer over 60% upside based on average analyst price targets. They operate in cloud infrastructure, cybersecurity, and crypto services sectors, where analysts focus on execution and growth potential. Elevate Your Investing Strategy: Take advantage of TipRanks Premium at 50% off! Unlock powerful investing tools, advanced data, and expert analyst insights to help you invest with confidence. Let's take a look. Backblaze Price: $5.49 | Market Cap: $301.4 million | Avg. Price Target: $9.00 | Upside: 63.9% Backblaze (BLZE) provides cloud backup and storage solutions for individuals, businesses, and developers. The stock rose more than 20% over the past three months but remains down 8% year-to-date. Analyst sentiment is positive, with four Buy ratings in the past three months. The highest price target is $11.00, while the average is $9.00, suggesting over 60% upside. Backblaze reported $34.6 million in revenue last quarter, up from $30.0 million a year ago. Analysts highlight steady growth and pricing differentiation as key positives for the company's B2 Cloud Storage platform. Qoria Price: $0.19 | Market Cap: $449.4 million | Avg. Price Target: $0.38 | Upside: 100.0% The next one is a promising penny stock company named Qoria (FMZNF), formerly Family Zone Cyber Safety, which offers digital safety tools for schools and families. The company's Family Zone platform is used across Australia, the United Kingdom, the United States, and other international markets. The stock has traded flat for the past quarter and is down 44.1% year-to-date. Still, all four analysts covering Qoria rate it a Buy. The average price target is $0.38, double its current price. Analysts highlight the company's position in education and telecom safety, noting recurring interest from institutions focused on regulated technology sectors. Exodus Movement, Inc. Price: $34.21 | Market Cap: $987.7 million | Avg. Price Target: $58.83 | Upside: 71.9% Exodus Movement, Inc. (EXOD) develops a non-custodial crypto wallet that supports multiple digital assets. The stock is down 24.8% over the past three months but has gained nearly 11% year-to-date. Analyst coverage is consistent, with six Buy ratings and no Hold or Sell ratings. The average price target is $58.83, with a high of $65.00. Analysts suggest that regulatory developments, including the CLARITY Act and the GENIUS Act, could foster stablecoin adoption and promote cross-chain wallet usage. These trends are seen as favorable for Exodus's long-term positioning in the crypto software market.
AllAfrica
5 days ago
- Business
- AllAfrica
What India can teach the US about digital finance
The new US administration has made digital finance an early priority, championing three pieces of legislation governing digital assets—the GENIUS Act, the CLARITY Act, and the CBDC Anti-Surveillance State Act. The first bill was signed into law by President Donald Trump on July 18, while the latter two recently advanced to the Senate. The laws have given a boost to advocates of digital assets, but face harsh criticism from consumer advocacy groups and experts over safety and stability concerns. As US policymakers continue to consider the promise and perils of digital finance, they should look toward the experience of India, a global leader in digital payments and digital public infrastructure, for critical lessons on the centralization and adoption of consumer-facing digital finance. Although the bills collectively clarify the federal regulation of many digital assets for the first time, they broadly sideline the federal government from the developing ecosystem of digital finance. The clearest manifestation of this trend is the ban on Federal Reserve digital currencies in the CBDC Anti-Surveillance State Act, a policy that—if enacted—would make the United States an international outlier. For its part, the CLARITY Act would effectively reduce federal scrutiny of digital assets like cryptocurrencies. These aspects of the new legislation represent components of a broader agenda of deregulation, but they carry particular risks for the development of secure and successful digital finance in the United States. India offers a useful lesson in productive state-led digital finance, demonstrating a healthy balance between public-led initiatives and private sector partnerships that ultimately deliver quality options to consumers. India's central government has proactively developed 'digital public infrastructure' (DPI) under the India Stack framework and positioned the state as a provider of digital public goods. In India's digital payments ecosystem, for instance, the National Payments Corporation of India (NPCI) oversees the Unified Payments Interface (UPI) and serves as the central hub for real-time transactions between banks, payment service providers, and consumers. However, because of UPI's openness and interoperability, private sector platforms are among the biggest winners of India's digital finance revolution, including US firms—Google Pay and PhonePe (owned by Walmart) process nearly 90% of transactions. Moreover, government involvement through the centralized hub unlocks improved consumer data protection and record-keeping to combat fraud and financial crime. India's experience also demonstrates the key role of adoption in the transition to digital finance. Certainly, many of the initial applications of stablecoin technology will be for back-end transactions in financial markets, but US companies will eventually look to harness consumer-facing stablecoins to ease retail payment costs and enable new offers or discounts. As consumers adapt to novel technologies and navigate a potential proliferation of digital asset offerings, adoption will be a major roadblock—especially given the sluggish US shift to digital payments. India's digital finance adoption has been remarkable. With difficult initial conditions, the Asian country has emerged as the global leader in real-time digital payments, processing 18 billion transactions each month. The Indian government achieved this rapid adoption through forward-looking initiatives that laid the groundwork for the digital finance ecosystem, including the aggressive implementation of the 'JAM trinity' of banking, identification, and mobile access. Then, in designing the ecosystem, NPCI prioritized simplicity, convenience, and cross-platform integration—all boons for otherwise reluctant or unaccustomed consumers. Lastly, political initiatives played a major role in pitching digital finance to the wider population, exemplified by the public-facing Digital India program. Due to variations in economy and demography, the Indian experience does not map directly onto the United States, but policymakers should heed the universalizable lessons on the importance of complementary digital infrastructure, consumer-friendly principles, and awareness-building. How can US officials integrate these insights into the policy agenda for digital assets? First, the US government should embrace centralization, either through proactive public development or—more likely—through pointed regulation of private sector players. For back-end stablecoin applications, the development of a central hub akin to NPCI would lend stability to the emerging digital financial system, as well as improved documentation and cybersecurity. For consumer-facing applications, although the US government is unlikely to develop or require a unified digital assets platform, regulations aimed at ensuring openness and interoperability will help stem the growth of a complicated landscape of siloed proprietary stablecoins. Second, if the administration intends on making the United States the 'undisputed leader in digital assets,' it must take adoption seriously. To build up complementary infrastructure, India proliferated bank accounts and mobile phones—the US government could focus on augmenting connectivity or spreading access to new financial technologies like digital wallets. Moreover, adoption relies on trust. If regulators continue to underdeliver on consumer protection, the United States will struggle to maintain leadership on digital assets for retail applications. But if the US government follows the Indian example, companies and consumers alike will benefit from the new era of digital assets. Andrew Gordan is a Motwani Jadeja US-India fellow at the Pacific Forum, where he researches Indian tech diplomacy. He also serves as a junior fellow in the South Asia Program at The Stimson Center think tank. He received his BA in Government from Harvard and is a recipient of the Boren and Fulbright-Nehru scholarships. He has previously worked at The Council on Foreign Relations, Wilson Center and Harvard's Davis Center.
