Altvest Capital (ALV) became the first listed company in Africa to adopt bitcoin (BTC) as a strategic treasury asset, the company said in a press release Friday.
Altvest said it bought one bitcoin for its strategic treasury, following a path set by Strategy (MSTR) in the U.S. and Metaplanet (3350) in Japan.
The Johannesburg-based company paid 1.8 million rand ($98,200) for just over 1 BTC, and said it doesn’t plan to buy alternative cryptocurrencies.
Altvest said it sees “bitcoin as the only digital asset that meets its stringent investment criteria for a long-term treasury allocation.”
Corporates are increasingly adding bitcoin as a strategic treasury asset. Michael Saylor’s Strategy (formerly known as MicroStrategy) pioneered the a move, starting to buy BTC in 2020. It now holds 478,740 bitcoin, worth more than $47 billion at current prices.
The South African investment firm said the initiative to acquire bitcoin was “focused on preserving shareholder value, mitigating currency depreciation risks, and gaining exposure to a globally recognized store of value.”
Since Tokyo-based Metaplanet started buying bitcoin in April last year, it has acquired 2,031 tokens worth nearly $200 million and its shares became the best-performing Japanese equity over the past 12 months, with a gain of 3,900%. Earlier this month, investment bank KBW started coverage of Strategy with an outperform rating and a $560 price target. The shares are currently $323.92.
Altvest shares were trading more than 9% lower at 590 rand at publication time.
Read more: Zoom Communications Should Embrace Bitcoin as Treasury Asset, Eric Semler Says