Indeed, the first few ASIC miners paid for themselves in a matter of days. Or, to put it in modern terms, invest in the companies that manufacture those pickaxes. You can learn more about the standards we follow in producing accurate, unbiased content in our editorial policy. While the financial market is heavily regulated, the crypto market is still in a grey patch. Article Sources. In a cryptocurrency context, the pickaxe equivalent would be a company that manufactures equipment used for Bitcoin mining.