Bitcoin recently hit an all-time high of nearly $123,000. How about buying one today for around $200,000? Ludicrous as that might sound, this pitch has proved popular with investors. More companies are now rolling out new riffs on the theme, and adding an extra cadenza of financial innovation.
The progenitor is Strategy — formerly known as MicroStrategy — a software company that pivoted to owning bitcoin. It raises cash through equity and debt offerings, and then buys more of the digital token. Its shareholders have rewarded this lavishly: it owns around $72bn of bitcoin, and has an enterprise value of $130bn.
Many are copying Strategy’s strategy, from online video platform Rumble to heart-medication developer Windtree Therapeutics. In May, a small marketing company called SharpLink Gaming became a shell for investing in ethereum; its market capitalisation has risen from $2mn to $2.7bn, double the value of the crypto it now holds.