Publicly Traded Bitcoin Startup BTCS Reveals Plan to Invest in ICOs

Publicly traded bitcoin startup BTCS is planning to create a portfolio of digital assets, its chief executive told shareholders in a new letter.

In the letter, released today, CEO Charles Allen wrote that the firm would invest in initial coin offerings, or ICOs, through which cryptographic tokens tied to a particular blockchain platform or application are sold. It's a funding mechanism that has attracted significant interest among both startups, investors and would-be buyers, though regulatory and ethical concerns have been raised about the model in the past.

Allen indicated that BTCS, which is publicly traded as a pink sheet at OTCQB, would invest in blockchain tokens through ICOs as well as direct market purchases and mining.

Though the company had previously suspended its mining activities – it reported a robbery last September which resulted in the theft of 165 mining computers – BTCS indicated that it may resume mining through third-party sources.

Those plans, the letter goes on to acknowledge, are incumbent on the raising of more money.

Allen explained:

As previously reported by CoinDesk, BTCS raised $1m early last month in an equity sale. Allen wrote that this sale was undertaken "to settle liabilities and provide working capital". That move came as part of a broader restructuring process that played out in the past year.

The startup first revealed its digital asset portfolio plans to prospective investors starting in February. That was before the start of what some observers are calling a bubble in cryptocurrency markets.

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