Crypto mining stocks have consistently outdone Bitcoin (BTC) over the past year. According to FundStrat, the trend has accelerated since the cryptocurrency crossed $20,000 a few months ago. The financial research firm predicts that the dynamic isn’t changing as long as Bitcoin is on the rise, calling Bitcoin and the wider crypto market the ‘modern-age digital gold rush’.

They also said that because miners play such a critical role in ensuring the Bitcoin network functions properly, investors have been looking out to gain exposure to mining companies.

The largest publicly listed mining companies include Riot Blockchain, Hive Blockchain, and Marathon Patent Group.

As Bitcoin’s price increases, the miners upgrade their hardware to gain higher block rewards. FundStrat expects that the more efficient mining technology will help firms keep a competitive edge, which could boost profit margins.

FundStrat warns however, that mining company equities could be an opportunity of advantage as highly-volatile stocks over Bitcoin. When cryptocurrency enters a profitable cycle, they expect mining equities to have a greater downside volatility than Bitcoin.