Few people are lukewarm on bitcoin. The digital currency typically invites sneering scepticism or fanatical optimism. Its adoption as legal tender by El Salvador this week provides ammunition for both supporters and detractors: other countries might follow, but a drop of as much as 17 per cent in the value of the cryptocurrency on that day shows exactly why they shouldn’t.
Investors can expect similar oscillations in the shares of Argo Blockchain. The London-listed company, which floated on the main market in 2018, mines bitcoin using its own vast network of machines via its six “mining” facilities. This process involves checking, recording and verifying transactions on a blockchain, a public ledger on which trades are archived. Miners earn cryptocoins for performing the task. It
