What happened Shares of Sphere 3D (NASDAQ: ANY) jumped 26% on Wednesday after its future merger partner Gryphon Digital Mining announced it had received a shipment of machines that will be used to mine Bitcoin (CRYPTO: BTC) in a carbon-neutral manner. Shares of the stock were up 35% on the news and are now up almost 400% year to date. So what On Wednesday, Gryphon Digital Mining announced it had installed its first batch of 7,200 S19J Pro Antminers and will continue to receive 600 machines on a monthly basis. Image source: Getty Images. How does this relate to Sphere 3D? Well, the company, which was originally a cloud-based software provider, has transitioned to trying to mine Bitcoin in an environmentally friendly manner. To do so, it has agreed to merge with Gryphon Digital Mining. (The merger hasn't been finalized yet.) To help finance purchases of Bitcoin mining equipment, Sphere 3D is raising $192 million by selling shares of common stock and warrants. Along with the 7,200 machines Gryphon is installing, Sphere 3D plans to buy 60k crypto mining machines that will be powered by renewable energy. Now what Bitcoin mining is an exciting development for some investors, especially for those who are bullish on cryptocurrencies, in general. But long-term, fundamental investors should stay far away from Sphere 3D stock. The company hasn't released a quarterly report since November of last year. In that report, it was clear that its software business was declining quickly. This pivot to Bitcoin mining should be a huge red flag and keep all investors away from Sphere 3D stock at the moment. 10 stocks we like better than BitcoinWhen our award-winning analyst team has a stock tip, it can pay to listen. After all, the newsletter they have run for over a decade, Motley Fool Stock Advisor, has tripled the market.* They just revealed what they believe are the ten best stocks for investors to buy right now... and Bitcoin wasn't one of them! That's right -- they think these 10 stocks are even better buys. See the 10 stocks *Stock Advisor returns as of August 9, 2021 Brett Schafer has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool owns shares of and recommends Bitcoin. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy.Source