Yet another publicly listed company has adopted Bitcoin as its “primary treasury reserve asset,” signaling a growing trend of Bitcoin adoption among mid-market companies looking to accelerate their growth.
Semler Scientific, a medical device maker traded on the Nasdaq under the ticker symbol SMLR, announced on Tuesday that it had purchased 581 BTC for $40 million, including fees and expenses.
“Our bitcoin treasury strategy and bitcoin purchases underscore our belief that bitcoin is a reliable store of value and an attractive investment,” Chairman Eric Semler said in an accompanying statement. “We believe that as bitcoin gains increasing acceptance as digital gold, it has the potential to generate significant profits.”
Immediately following the announcement, SMLR's stock price rose 33% to $31.08 a share, beginning a strong recovery from a consecutive decline since hitting a yearly high of $51 in February. The company's market capitalization is now $216 million, according to Yahoo Finance.
This is a promising trend among companies jumping into Bitcoin. Since MicroStrategy (MSTR), the world's largest corporate Bitcoin holder, currently holding $14.5 billion worth of BTC, announced its first Bitcoin purchase in 2020, the company's stock price has soared by over 1,000%.
Similarly, Japanese real estate firm-turned-Bitcoin company Metaplanet has nearly tripled in value since announcing its Bitcoin strategy just under two months ago. On Tuesday, Metaplanet Announced It also announced that it would purchase an additional 250 million yen ($1.6 million) worth of BTC.
But not all of these announcements are legitimate. In late March, little-known holding company Nilam Resources (NILA) saw its shares soar 1,000% after it pledged to buy $1.72 billion worth of Bitcoin, then went quiet on investors, causing its shares to plummet to zero the next day.
Semler praised Bitcoin, saying that like its predecessors, it is a “scarce and finite” asset that can act as a “rational” safe haven and store of value asset, better than gold.
Additionally, the firm has witnessed the “institutionalization” of Bitcoin through the wildly successful spot ETF it launched in January, and concluded that BTC would be the most productive place to invest excess cash from its medical products business.
“Bitcoin will continue to serve as Semler Scientific's primary financial holding, subject to market conditions and Semler Scientific's anticipated cash needs,” the company wrote.
Semler did not immediately respond. Deciphering Request for Comments.
Editor: Andrew Hayward
