The shares of Stronghold Digital MiningThe cryptocurrency-related stocks soared 52% on their first trading day, Wednesday. This is a sign that investors are enthusiastic about the emergence of cryptocurrencies.

Trades on Nasdaq with ticker symbol SDIG, the Pennsylvania-based company that mines bitcoinfrom waste coal. Its stock was priced at $19/share, higher than its expected range of $16-18.8

After climbing to $31.90, the stock ended at $28.90. Based on fully-diluted shares, that gives the company an estimated market capitalization of $1.3 billion.

Stronghold launched as Bitcoin hit an all-time high, close to $67,000 on Wednesday. It came just a day after bitcoin hit a new all-time high of $67,000. The launch first-ever bitcoin-linked exchange-traded fund The ProShares Bitcoin Strategy ETFIt is anticipated that this fund will be the first in a series of such funds. This makes bitcoin more accessible to all investors who have a brokerage account.

Stronghold CEO Greg Beard said that Stronghold chose to go public via an IPO instead of going through a special purpose acquisition corporation (SPAC) route. This has become a more common way for companies to get on the stock exchange in the last few years. Beard praised the credibility associated with an IPO.

Beard stated that he believes investors are more interested in the company because it has been regularly vetted and inspected by the SEC. The company saidThe offering is expected to bring in nearly $115million.

Stronghold competes in a market where there are companies such as Riot Blockchain Marathon DigitalCore Scientific and. Core Scientific will also list their stock on the Nasdaq in this year’s market as part of a SPAC merger

U.S. have exploded onto the Bitcoin Mining Scene in the last yearThere are many crypto companies across the country looking to get ahead of the competition, usually by seeking out the most affordable source for power.

When Beijing decided to banish all its crypto minersBill Spence, cofounder of Stronghold, saw an opportunity.

Spence, who hails from Pennsylvania, has spent nearly two decades cleaning up the coal mines in Pennsylvania. To capture some of that market share, he decided to switch to bitcoin mining in the spring.

Pennsylvania is a long-standing participant in coal mining. since the late-1700s. It was legally allowed to place the coal mine byproduct in piles near the mine mouth until 1975. Beard claimed that more than 840 of such piles are currently in existence. Beard noted that some are nearly 200-feet high and almost look like “lunar environments”.

Beard said, “They exist wherever coal mining was.”

The waste coal is brought by Stronghold to its facilities. There, it removes toxins using fluidized beds boilers. It then produces power which can be used to create electricity for its Bitcoin miners.

Beard stated, “We’re restoring and remediating the legacy of decades of Pennsylvania coal mining.” Bitcoin mining makes the best economic use of that power right now.

Bitcoin profits are not very impressive. Beard claims that the company has mined only a few hundred bitcoin thus far.

He said, “It is not enough to brag about it quite yet.”

The revenue for the first six months was $7.9m, compared to $2.2m in the previous year. In the first half, the company suffered a loss of $3.5 million.

Beard claimed that Stronghold’s ability to generate electricity at half the price of its industry peers is possible because it owns the energy and the mining equipment.

Beard said, “We’ll be able to have better margins that everybody else.” “I believe all miners will be more inclined to have their own power once they realize that leaders are heading in that direction.”

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