Just spotted something interesting in the sub-$30 stock space that might be worth your attention heading into the rest of 2026.

I've been watching Cipher Mining lately, and there's actually a compelling story here that most people are overlooking. The company's basically sitting on a goldmine as AI infrastructure becomes the real bottleneck for tech giants. Morgan Stanley's projecting a 44 gigawatt shortage by 2028, and Cipher's already got 3.4 gigawatts in their pipeline. The thing is, those gigawatts aren't generating revenue yet because they're still finishing up deployment. But here's what caught my attention - they've already locked in long-term deals with Amazon and Alphabet. Amazon alone allocated 300 megawatts, and Google-backed Fluidstack got 244 megawatts. That's less than 20% of their total capacity. Q3 crypto revenue hit $71 million, but once Amazon's deal kicks in, they're looking at more than doubling their total revenue. With $1.2 billion in cash on the balance sheet, they've got the runway to build this thing out properly.

The stock's been flat for a few months, which is exactly when patient investors should be paying attention. This is the kind of setup where you're not just betting on hype - there's actual infrastructure and real contracts backing it.

Now, on the fintech side, SoFi's another interesting play under $30 that people keep dismissing. Yeah, the stock's down almost 30% year to date, but the fundamentals are quietly getting stronger. Revenue jumped 37% year over year in Q4, and here's the kicker - they relaunched crypto trading on December 22nd. Within 10 days, over 63,000 customers were already trading crypto on their platform. That's not nothing.

The CEO made it clear they're moving with real urgency to dominate the crypto and blockchain space. Even if Bitcoin takes a while to reignite, SoFi's got 13.7 million members and they're diversifying beyond just loan interest. Consumer deposits are climbing, and their interest income is up 30% year over year. Crypto could be the catalyst, but it's really just one gear in a much bigger machine.

Both of these are trading under $30 right now, which means you can actually own meaningful positions without needing fractional shares. That psychological aspect of owning whole shares in something you believe in still matters. These aren't lottery tickets - they're real businesses with long-term growth potential backed by actual contracts and revenue. Worth keeping on your radar if you're looking for opportunities in this price range.