Bitcoin Stock Roundup: CasinoBitco.in rebounds, first Neo update this week

Thanks to a largely unexplored market and effectively zero regulation, the number of bitcoin-related businesses has surged in the last year. While most of the media attention seems to go to startups wooing millions of dollars away from venture capitalists, there’s also a growing trend of bitcoin-based companies who accept trades of BTC for shares of their company. At the moment, this market is tiny, and with only two major exchanges, Havelock Investments and 796, and a relatively quiet community. But as the industry around bitcoin grows, so will the need for a better understanding of the companies.

CasinoBitco.in (CBTC) After a series of acquisitions early this quarter (Bit777.com, Peerbet.org, and Peerdice.org) which aimed to expand the gaming company’s user base by around 15,000 players, things looked good for CBTC. However, the dismal results of the company’s Sportsbook product in February (a net loss of 8.3 BTC) resulted in an overall loss of nearly 5 BTC for the company. The lack of a March dividend on the ultra-low priced stock sent the price down from 0.00024 ($0.15) to under 0.00014 ($0.08) in a matter of days. With the publication of a new report last week, however, things are looking up for CBTC, and the company claims that the first 15 days of March were their most profitable yet (even with another -3.9 BTC loss from Sportsbook), with 21.95 BTC ($14,000) in total profit. Should the trend hold, investors might see returns beating the January dividend of 0.00000064 BTC, meaning a $100 stake in CBTC would return about $0.40 for the month. More importantly, however, are investor hopes that the price could climb back to January values.

Neo & Bee (NEOBEE): The Cyprus-based “bitcoin bank” has been using IPO funds to fuel a massive promotion campaign in the increasingly banking-hostile country. While the stock did fall significantly after the buzz around the IPO, from a high of nearly 0.006 BTC to 0.0034 BTC, NEOBEE has followed a relatively conservative strategy. Using channels like TV ads and sponsorships, the company has managed to gain a rare level of credibility for a bitcoin company, resulting in meetings with the top financial officials in Cyprus. Neo & Bee will release an updated prospectus on Monday, March 17, which is likely to include very strong hints at the direction of company in coming months, and will almost certainly impact the stock price. Thus far, NEOBEE has released no dividends or announced plans for one.

With the mining difficulty increasing, almost all mining-based stocks have struggled this quarter in anticipation of poor results. A particularly strong indicator of this trend is Bitcoin Difficulty Derivative – MINE (B.MINE), which tumbled from a high of 0.19 BTC in late January to a low of 0.04 BTC last week.

More details on bitcoin-based stocks and related news to come.