London BTC Company Ltd (LSE:BTC, OTCQB:VINZF) earlier this week raised £1.5 million to expand its Bitcoin holdings as part of its ongoing strategy to align the balance sheet with long-term conviction in the cryptocurrency.
The company told investors that almost all of the proceeds will be used to build its Bitcoin stack over the next six to twelve months. It highlighted that further capital raises are planned, with options including more dilutive financing such as debt or convertible debt with long-dated conversion features.
Chief Executive Hewie Rattray said there was strong investor interest for treasury-focused models but underlined the importance of educating institutional investors on how the approach can work. He explained, “We aim to outperform bitcoin in a bull market and try to protect the downside in a bear market.”
Rattray noted that, while owning Bitcoin directly remained the best investment exposure, shares in a treasury company could offer a more dynamic and potentially leveraged route. He added that the company would keep building its Bitcoin position regardless of market conditions while also exploring non-dilutive funding options.
The company addressed recent shareholder concerns regarding the funding round. It told investors that the decision, though unpopular with some, was made to prioritise long-term outcomes. Rattray said, “I have to do what’s right for the investors in six months’ time or a year’s time.”
Potential catalysts include securing a long-term strategic investment partner, with progress expected over the coming weeks.
Proactive: Hewie, great to speak with you again. You’ve just raised £1.5 million. Can you explain how this new capital will be deployed and your specific growth priorities it will fund over the next 12 months?
Hewie Rattray: Yeah, so Stephen, this capital is, as most of our previous raises, almost exclusively allocated to building our Bitcoin stack. Over the next six to twelve months, we intend to keep doing similar capital raises and deploying again into Bitcoin. I want to go towards more dilutive forms of financing—debt or convertible debt with a long-dated convert on it. But for now, we take what is available to us and we deploy that, and we build our Bitcoin stack that way.
Proactive: Do you continue to see strong appetite for your stock, Hewie?
Hewie Rattray: Yeah, there’s definitely investor interest for these treasury plays, I think. We offer a unique angle. A lot of it is working to educate, especially institutional investors, on the opportunity and why the flywheel works, so to speak. We’re working towards a long-term strategic partner when it comes to investment, and hopefully we’ll have that for the investors in the next few weeks.
Proactive: Hewie, why would an investor buy a share in a Bitcoin treasury company as opposed to the underlying Bitcoin itself?
Hewie Rattray: So, I’d always recommend, if you’re capable of it, to try and buy Bitcoin yourself first. I always think fundamentally Bitcoin is the best investment and the best exposure. Treasury companies offer something different, something slightly more dynamic and—without using a bad word—something slightly more leveraged to the upside. It’s a different play. We aim to outperform Bitcoin in a bull market and try to protect the downside in a bear market. But I’m a big believer in Bitcoin as an asset class, and I would never recommend anything over owning Bitcoin itself.
Proactive: You mentioned aligning the balance sheet with your long-term conviction in Bitcoin. What milestones or targets should investors look out for as proof the strategy is working?
Hewie Rattray: We have to think about what’s right for our investor base and our long-term holders. Just to reference something directly, the raise that I did recently—or yesterday—had some negative publicity around it, and definitely some people were unhappy with it. The message I want to put out to our shareholders and people who are considering investing in our stock is that I have to do what’s right for the investors in six months’ time or a year’s time. I have to make unpopular decisions for them to turn out to be right further down the line. When I raised money yesterday and last week, it was done with the understanding that it’s going to be unpopular. But ultimately, I want to do the most sensible decision for the long-term holders and for the company. That consists of building our Bitcoin stack, whatever the environment, and keeping and pushing on and keeping the clock ticking, so to speak. And whilst we explore other ways to do it in a non-dilutive way.
Proactive: Hewie, I hope you’ll continue to keep us updated on your progress. Thank you very much for speaking with us.
