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The fourth Bitcoin halving was in mid-April amid expectations of a rally for the cryptocurrency. Halving is a scheduled reduction in the amount of new coins entering the market and is intended to protect the cryptocurrency's value by ensuring its circulation is capped at 21 million. Halving occurs every four years for Bitcoin, and this time it reduced the supply of new coins awarded to miners by half (to 3.125 tokens). Some reasoned the lower supply would lead to a run up in Bitcoin's price (as that was the case after each of the previous halvings). So far, though, this halving has been different. Since the April 19 halving date, the price of Bitcoin has fallen about 2%. Why? The SEC's approval of the first U.S.-listed Bitcoin ETFs likely played a role. The spot Bitcoin ETFs have been welcomed by investors who have collectively poured nearly $60 billion into them since January. The related increase in demand drove the price of Bitcoin up over 50% by mid-March, only to drop by about 15% since then despite the halving. The unexpected results remind us that investing in crypto comes with risk and the underlying market doesn't always react as planned. We expect volatility in cryptocurrencies to continue in the near-term as evolving regulations meant to stabilize the market could undermine the benefits of decentralization. Only time will tell what's in store for this relatively new asset class. But one thing is for sure. Bitcoin halving is no longer a sure bet for market gains.

The Vickers Top Insider Picks is a daily report that utilizes a proprietary algorithm to identify 25 companies with compelling insider purchase histories based on transactions over the past three months.

F5 is a market leader in the application delivery controller market. The company sells products for security, application performance, and automation. Its three customer verticals are enterprises, service providers, and government entities. Revenue is evenly split between its services business and products business with revenue trending toward products due to software adoption. The Seattle-based firm was incorporated in 1996, has about 6,500 employees, and generates about 55% its revenue within the Americas, 25% in EMEA, and 20% in APAC/Japan.

Sensata Technologies is a global supplier of sensors for transportation and industrial applications. Sensata sells a bevy of pressure, temperature, force, and position sensors into the automotive, heavy vehicle, industrial, heating, ventilation, and cooling, and aerospace markets. The majority of the firm’s revenue comes from the automotive market, where it focuses on bumper-in applications.