Bitcoin
Semler Scientific emerges on new bitcoin treasury strategy
Semler Scientifica little-known medical technology company, saw its shares rise on Tuesday after saying it adopted Bitcoin as its main treasury reserve asset, taking a page out of MicroStrategy’s playbook.
The company, which develops products used to detect peripheral arterial diseases, also announced the purchase of 581 bitcoins for around US$40 million, including fees and expenses.
Shares rose 37% on Tuesday, while bitcoin traded down about 2%, according to Coin Metrics. Semler, which has a market capitalization of about $210 million, is down more than 30% this year.
“Our bitcoin treasury and bitcoin purchasing strategy underscores our belief that bitcoin is a reliable store of value and an attractive investment,” said Eric Semler, president of Semler, in a statement.
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Semler Scientific emerges after announcing bitcoin treasury strategy
“We believe it has unique characteristics as a scarce and finite asset that can serve as a reasonable hedge against inflation and a safe haven amid global instability,” he added. “Given the difference in value between gold and bitcoin, we believe bitcoin has the potential to generate outsized returns as it gains increasing acceptance as digital gold.”
The move puts Semler in the same company as Microstrategywhich began to employ an aggressive approach bitcoin buying strategy in 2020 and has been trading primarily as a proxy for the price of crypto ever since. This stock is up about 163% this year.
MicroStrategy launched as an enterprise software provider. In February this year, the company said it would shift its company focus and brand to bitcoin development.
On Tuesday, Semler said the company will continue to focus on its core medical products and services and that, as it continues to generate revenue and free cash flow from sales of its blood flow tests, it will proactively evaluate the use of excess money.
Tesla It is Block are also among the companies that hold some amount of bitcoin on their balance sheets.
Bitcoin is up 60% this year and is trading near its record high. Many see adoption by corporate treasuries as a better intuitive adoption indicatorversus big name funds that hold and potentially trade the cryptocurrency.
However, the trend has yet to take off significantly due to regulatory uncertainty and ESG considerations.