Indonesia’s DigiAsia shares pop 90% on plan to raise $100M to buy Bitcoin

Shares in the Indonesian fintech firm DigiAsia Corp nearly doubled after the company said it plans to raise $100 million to seed its first of many Bitcoin buys.

The Jakarta-based Nasdaq-listed company said on May 19 that its board of directors approved creating a Bitcoin (BTC) “treasury reserve” and it was “committing up to 50% of any net profits generated to fund the acquisition of BTC.”

DigiAsia said it was also “actively exploring a capital raise of up to US$100 million” to kickstart its Bitcoin holdings and would look to earn yield on its holdings through means like lending and staking.

DigiAsia said it had “initiated discussions with regulated partners” on yield strategies and managing its planned Bitcoin holdings. The company added that it was also assessing whether to offer convertible notes or crypto finance instruments linked to its planned Bitcoin haul. 

Shares in DigiAsia Corp (FAAS) closed May 19 trading at a gain of just over 91% at 36 cents after the company’s Bitcoin announcement, according to Google Finance.

However, after the bell, DigiAsia stock dropped 22% to 28 cents. The company’s shares are down nearly 53% so far this year, having peaked at just under $12 in March 2024. 

In a financial update on April 1, DigiAsia reported its revenues grew 36% year-on-year to $101 million in 2024. It projected growth of 24% to $125 million in 2025, along with earnings before interest and taxes of $12 million.

A growing number of companies are adding Bitcoin to their corporate holdings, following its popularization by Michael Saylor’s Strategy, formerly MicroStrategy, which has the largest Bitcoin holdings of any public company at 576,230 BTC, worth nearly $60.9 billion.

Strive Asset Management announced on May 7 that it will transition into a Bitcoin treasury company, and video game retailer GameStop Corporation (GME) finished a convertible debt offering on April 1 that raised $1.5 billion, with some proceeds earmarked for buying Bitcoin. 

Related: Metaplanet scoops 1,004 Bitcoin in 2nd-biggest buy ever

Corporate Bitcoin treasuries collectively hold over three million in Bitcoin, worth over $340 billion, according to Bitbo data.

Blockstream co-founder and CEO Adam Back predicted that firms with Bitcoin-focused treasuries are driving global adoption and could push Bitcoin’s market cap hit $200 trillion in the coming decade. 

Bitcoin’s market cap is currently sitting at around $2 trillion, with BTC changing hands at $105,642, up 2% in the past day, according to CoinGecko. 

Magazine: Rise of MicroStrategy clones, Asia dominates crypto adoption: Asia Express 2024 review