We’re giving people across the UK the chance to be part of something big: to invest in Bitcoin through a London Stock Exchange main market company - CEO Hewie Rattray.
Vinanz Ltd (LSE:BTC, OTCQB:VINZF) is aiming to bring Bitcoin to the British public with a £1 million WRAP Retail offer of new shares that opens the doors to private investors.
To those of you who are new to the WRAP concept, it’s a relatively new platform run by the City’s biggest market maker, Winterflood Securities.
The idea is to democratise the way City fundraising is conducted. It does this by allowing would-be shareholders access to new stock issues normally the preserve of professional investors.
Vinanz, soon to be renamed The London Bitcoin Company, is using WRAP to bring ‘retail’ into a story that already has institutional backing.
Stock market-listed Bitcoin treasury companies such as Vinanz are becoming more commonplace and increasingly popular with those looking to piggyback on the success of the world’s largest cryptocurrency.
Put simply, they buy and hold Bitcoin.
The model echoes a trend seen among US tech firms and crypto-native businesses. Tesla, for example, owns 11,509 bitcoins worth around $1.2 billion. Strategy, formerly known as MicroStrategy, Mara Holdings, Riot Platforms and CleanSpark are other big crypto holders.
Here in the UK, while the field is growing, Main Market-listed Vinanz is one of the few operators to put itself in the full regulatory glare of the London Stock Exchange, and by extension, the Financial Conduct Authority.
Others have opted for alternative bourses where outside scrutiny is less intense, and stock in these companies is illiquid, making it hard, sometimes impossible, to trade.
By taking the harder route to market initially, Vinanz hopes to set itself up as the flagship Bitcoin treasury.
Not only that, it reckons WRAP (with the help of rank-and-file investors) will provide a scalable funding mechanism.
"We’re giving people across the UK the chance to be part of something big: to invest in Bitcoin through a London Stock Exchange main market company,” said chief executive Hewie Rattray, told Proactive shortly after the WRAP launch.
“We are the best-positioned treasury company in London, being listed on the LSE mainboard. We've already made our first purchase, 16.9 Bitcoin funded from the US, and now we’re opening the door to a wider base of shareholders as we scale up with institutional support."
Bitcoin's resurgence has strengthened interest in treasury companies. The cryptocurrency has risen more than 75% since April last year, peaking at around $111,000 in May. It is currently changing hands for $109,797.
The rally followed a halving event, a scheduled reduction in the rate at which new Bitcoin is created. This curtails supply and has historically supported higher prices.
Analysts following the cryptocurrency argue the current bull market still has momentum.
Forecasts suggest Bitcoin could reach $200,000 by the end of this year, and possibly $1 million by 2030.
Among the most vocal advocates is Cathie Wood, the widely followed US tech investor.
Vinanz chairman David Lenigas, a veteran stock market entrepreneur, gets it and thinks his latest business will level the playing field for the average person on the street.
"This is about more than just buying Bitcoin,” he told Proactive. “It’s about putting UK investors at the heart of the next financial revolution, on a platform they know, under full market scrutiny, and with real skin in the game.”