Forget Bitcoin: 4 Stocks to Buy Hand Over Fist Instead | The Motley Fool

For nearly 11 months, the stock market’s three major indexes have been virtually unstoppable. Since the March 23 bear market low, the Dow Jones Industrial Average, S&P 500, and Nasdaq Composite are up a cool 70%, 76%, and 104%, respectively.

Yet, on a combined basis, these major indexes don’t even come close to matching the 672% return of cryptocurrency giant Bitcoin (CRYPTO:BTC) over the same time frame.

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Ignoring the Bitcoin hype would be a smart move

Many of the same theses that bulls have extolled for years continue to drive Bitcoin’s ascent. For example, fans still view its 21 million token limit as a hedge against the long-term devaluation of the U.S. dollar as the money supply increases.

Enthusiasts also still value Bitcoin for its payment potential. A greater number of businesses are accepting cryptocurrency now than ever before, and Bitcoin’s network can settle payment transactions in an average of 10 minutes. This compares to cross-border payments on traditional networks, which can take up to a week to be validated and settled.

The world’s most popular digital currency has also received a boost from brand-name enterprise adoption. Electric-vehicle maker Tesla recently announced a $1.5 billion purchase of Bitcoin, which will be added to the automaker’s balance sheet.

But you might be disappointed if you dig beyond the short-term cheerleading and technical analysis. History is clear that when next-big-thing investments go parabolic, they eventually implode. Furthermore, Bitcoin is full of flaws and misconceptions perpetuated on social media platforms.

These high-growth stocks are all better buys than Bitcoin

Rather than putting your hard-earned money to work on an asset that doesn’t seem to have any true utility or sustainable advantages, consider the following four growth stocks, all of which have tangible long-term growth prospects.

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CrowdStrike Holdings

Though it may not be the fastest-growing trend this decade, there’s a good chance cybersecurity will be the safest double-digit growth opportunity. As businesses continue to shift online and into the cloud, the onus of protecting company and consumer information will fall on third-party providers. That’s where CrowdStrike Holdings (NASDAQ:CRWD) comes in.

CrowdStrike’s selling point is its cloud-native Falcon platform, which oversees over 3 trillion events each week. Falcon relies on artificial intelligence to improve at identifying and responding to threats. Because it was built entirely in the cloud, Falcon is more nimble than on-premises security options. Interestingly, it’s also cheaper.

The fact of the matter is that CrowdStrike’s clients love the product. Over the past 3.5 years, the percentage of customers with at least four cloud module subscriptions has grown from 9% to 61%. This tells us that CrowdStrike’s platform is easily scalable to its clients’ needs.

What’s more, CrowdStrike has just scratched the surface of its addressable market ($32.4 billion, as of fiscal 2021), and it’s already reached its long-term subscription gross margin target of between 75% and 80%. It’s a fast-paced business you can buy into with confidence. 

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Cresco Labs

Another high-growth stock to buy hand over fist instead of Bitcoin is marijuana stock Cresco Labs (OTC:CRLBF).

Many investors are pounding the table on pot stocks because they think a Democrat-led Congress will legalize marijuana at the federal level. That’s far from a given considering how little our country’s two political parties agree on. It’s also worth noting that President Joe Biden has only pledged to decriminalize and reschedule cannabis. Thankfully, legalization isn’t necessary for a handful of multistate operators to shine, and Cresco is part of that group.

Following the completion of the Verdant Creations acquisition, which added four dispensaries in Ohio, the company…