Morgan Stanley Begins Bitcoin Miner Coverage: Buy CIFR & WULF, Sell MARA
Morgan Stanley on Monday initiated coverage of bitcoin miners, arguing that certain mining operations should be treated as infrastructure assets rather than pure commodity plays. The bank issued Buy ratings on CIFR and WULF and a Sell on MARA, a stance that pushed CIFR and WULF higher in early trading while MARA underperformed. The analyst framed the change as a shift in how investors should value recurring revenue, capex profiles, and balance-sheet resilience within the sector. The reclassification matters because treating miners as infrastructure can broaden their investor base and potentially lower cost-of-capital for companies with stable, contracted revenue or differentiated service offerings. For crypto investors, the note highlights growing differentiation across miners — some are being viewed as “pick-and-shovel” infrastructure plays, others remain exposed to pure hash-price cyclicality. Watch upcoming reports and production figures to see if market sentiment follows the new coverage.