UK-Listed Firm Mode Putting Up to 10% of Cash Reserves Into Bitcoin
Mode said it's the first U.K.-listed firm to invest in bitcoin as part of its treasury management strategy.
Oct 21, 2020 at 8:22 a.m. UTC:format(webp)/cloudfront-us-east-1.images.arcpublishing.com/coindesk/VGDXJ7LZPJF6XKVQSXMLCB2WVI.jpg)
City of London
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Mode Global Holdings PLC, a London Stock Exchange-listed company, has announced plans to make a "significant purchase" of bitcoin as part of its treasury investment strategy.
- In a press release on Wednesday, the fintech group said it will convert up to 10% of its cash reserves into the cryptocurrency as part of a long-term strategy to "protect investors' assets from currency debasement."
- With interest rates in the U.K. at a record low of 0.1%, Mode said it would also seek to diversify away from low-interest money market instruments to maximize the value of returns from its recent initial public offering.
- "Faced with the challenges of COVID-19 and with U.K. interest rates at the lowest level in the Bank of England's 326-year history, our confidence in the long-term value of bitcoin has only increased," said Jonathan Rowland, Mode's executive chairman.
- "Today's allocation is executed through a modern, forward-looking but prudent treasury management strategy," he added.
- With the news, the company follows MicroStrategy and Jack Dorsey's Square in deciding to place a portion of their treasury reserves into bitcoin.
- MicroStrategy put $425 million into bitcoin, according to a series of disclosures, while Square invested $50 million.
- Mode said it recognized the potential of bitcoin as "a reliable store of value and an attractive investment due to the asset's asymmetric risk/reward attributes and safe haven status."
- The firm did not disclose a cash value of the bitcoin allocation.
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