In brief
- The Oslo, Norway-based firm offers crypto brokerage and research services.
- It has entered an agreement with shareholders to buy $6.2 million in Bitcoin.
- Bitcoin treasuries are becoming more common.
Norway-based crypto brokerage and research services firm K33 joined the rapidly growing list of companies to adopt Bitcoin treasury strategies.
In a Wednesday announcement, K33 said it had entered into a financing agreement to buy over 60 million Swedish krona ($6.2 million) in the leading cryptocurrency. The firm said that along with its shareholders, it would issue new shares as well as debt to buy the asset.
“We strongly believe that Bitcoin will become an instrumental part of the global financial system,” K33 CEO Torbjørn Bull Jenssen said in a statement.
He added: “I am excited to now start the process of building a strong balance sheet backed by Bitcoin, not only as a strong conviction investment but, more importantly, as a strategic enabler for K33 as a leading cryptocurrency broker.”
The number of companies focused on acquiring Bitcoin has soared in recent weeks, helping to fuel the crypto’s price to new highs. Bitcoin was recently trading at about $108,000, off its recent high near $112,000, but up 15% over the past month.
Strategy—formerly MicroStrategy—pioneered the strategy in 2020, to generate shareholder value and to combat inflation.
Since then, the Nasdaq-listed company’s shares have rocketed and it has accelerated its crypto buying. Strategy now holds more than 580,000 Bitcoin worth more than $62 billion based on current pricing.
Other Nasdaq-listed companies and firms in the crypto space have followed suit, or are about to.
Last month, crypto and financial services giants Tether, Bitfinex, Cantor Fitzgerald, and SoftBank Group announced last month that they would create Twenty One, a publicly traded Bitcoin treasury company with plans to acquire 42,000 BTC—or about $4.5 billion worth.
Twenty One will be launched through a planned SPAC merger with Cantor Equity Partners, which trades on the Nasdaq under the ticker CEP and is affiliated with financial services firm Cantor Fitzgerald.
Edited by James Rubin
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