Most major commodities like gold, silver, copper, iron ore and steel are up sharply over the past month following U.S. President Donald Trump’s imposition of tariffs on goods from Canada, Mexico and China, reflecting investors’ interest in aligning their portfolios with the potential near-term scarcity of essential materials.
This trend also applies to digital assets and their underlying blockchain technology, with the total cryptocurrency market capitalization growing from C$3.2 trillion to C$4.5 trillion since Trump was elected to his second term, propelled by his executive order in support of U.S. crypto development, including a potential strategic Bitcoin reserve.
These two tailwinds – Trump-enforced commodity scarcity and favorable U.S. crypto regulation – present investors with opportunities to identify stocks whose underlying companies are well-managed and strategically positioned to deliver shareholder value despite rising geopolitical tension.
In the latest edition of Weekly Market Movers, I’ll sketch out cases for two noteworthy names to put this thesis in play in your long-term, micro-cap portfolio.
Santacruz Silver
Santacruz Silver operates, acquires, explores and develops mineral properties in Latin America. Its assets include:
- The producing Zimapan mine in Mexico, which generated 1.3 million ounces of silver and 12,100 tons of zinc between Q1 and Q3 2024.
- Producing operations in Bolivia spanning Bolivar, Porco and the Caballo Blanco Group properties, the latter consisting of the Tres Amigos, Reserva and Colquechaquita mines. These properties house established generational silver and zinc resources and reserves.
- The Soracaya exploration project, which features high-grade inferred resources, and the San Lucas ore sourcing and trading business, which produced 3.5 million ounces of silver equivalent between Q1 and Q3 2024, both also in Bolivia.
With four producing mines, the metals producer has managed to scale its operations, reduce costs and reach profitability, posting positive net income in 2023, as well as over the past four quarters ending Q3 2024, capitalizing on silver’s over 77 per cent run during the period, last trading at US$32.28 per ounce as of 2:26 pm ET.
Given Santacruz Silver management‘s strong background in precious metals and its vastly untapped properties, it’s reasonable to expect operations to continue making money and rewarding shareholders for their conviction at current silver prices.
With operations outside of the Trump tariff threat, but still vulnerable to a generalized downturn among Canadian-listed mining stocks, look to buy the dip.
Arturo Préstamo, executive chairman and chief executive officer (CEO), spoke with Lyndsay Malchuk about Q4 2024 production results. Watch the interview here.
Santacruz Silver stock (TSXV:SCZ) is up by 76.19 per cent year-over-year and by 184.62 per cent since 2020. Shares last traded at C$0.37.
Spirit Blockchain
Another stock vying to ride the Trump tailwind is Spirit Blockchain, an investment company focused on blockchain and digital asset solutions with the potential for long-term capital appreciation. Here’s a survey of its key portfolio holdings:
- InvestDEFY, an artificial intelligence (AI) technology platform for structured products holding digital assets. The company has designed, launched and issued over $3 billion in structured products over the past four years. Its AI investment strategies are deployed at an institutional scale across more than $32 billion in risk capital including FX derivatives.
- Coinchange Financials, an automated crypto wealth management platform that rebalances customer assets across 5 blockchains, 15 protocols and 30 pools, powered by a mobile app.
- CryptoSlam, a leading aggregator of non-fungible tokens (NFTs), compiling and analyzing data for millions of NFTs across more than 15 blockchains.
Spirit Blockchain’s mostly picks-and-shovels philosophy favors cash-flowing businesses, as opposed to asset appreciation through direct crypto investments, an approach that has resulted in significant decreases in net losses on its path to profitability.
Supported by CEO Lewis Bateman’s extensive experience with blockchain-based firms, chief investment officer Francisco Lung’s career bridging the gap between capital markets and software engineering, and skin in the game from EOS Network Ventures, a key blockchain player and board representative, Spirit Blockchain’s leadership is well-equipped to separate hype from untapped value and zig when the market zags to build more strategic allocations in the digital asset space, optimizing your money for U.S. crypto momentum.
Blackman sat down with Lyndsay Malchuk to shed light on an ongoing $3 million financing. Watch the interview here.
Spirit Blockchain stock (CSE:SPIR) is up by 190 per cent year-over-year, besting Bitcoin’s 102.53 per cent effort.
Join the discussion: Find out what everybody’s saying about these Trump-optimized stocks on the Santacruz Silver Mining Ltd. and Spirit Blockchain Capital Inc. Bullboards and check out Stockhouse’s stock forums and message boards.
This is sponsored content issued on behalf of Santacruz Silver Mining Ltd. and Spirit Blockchain Capital Inc., please see full disclaimer here.
(Top image, generated by AI: Adobe Stock)