Another Publicly Traded Firm Just Adopted a Bitcoin Reserve Strategy

Matador Technologies, a Canadian crypto firm, said Monday that it would begin leveraging Bitcoin as a treasury reserve asset, starting with a $4.5 million purchase later this month.

The little-known company has been developing a platform on top of Bitcoin’s network, which will enable users to one day purchase and trade digital representations of gold, according to a press release. The company previously said it’s targeting a launch of “early 2025” for said platform. 

The company, formerly known as Scaling Capital 1, began trading on the TSX Venture Exchange last week under its new name. Since Matador’s debut last Tuesday, its stock price has fallen 35% from a closing price of $0.90 to $0.58, as of this writing.

Since software firm MicroStrategy began purchasing Bitcoin in 2020—ultimately amassing more than $41 billion worth as of this writing—major tech companies like Tesla have brought the asset onto their own balance sheets.

But with firms like Microsoft declining to take that route recently, many companies following in MicroStrategy’s footsteps have been relatively small. With a market capitalization of $49.5 million, Matador undoubtedly fits within that group.

Eventually, Matador plans on releasing a mobile application that lets users “buy, sell, and store gold 24/7,” according to a press release. But the company has said it plans to “build a significant portfolio of products” beyond the precious metal, according to its website.

Matador said Monday that its Bitcoin-buying endeavors were unanimously approved by the company’s board of directors. As part of the move, Matador said it would meanwhile shift the majority of its cash balances to the U.S. dollar, while ditching Canada’s official currency. 

The Canadian firm said that it had assessed its platform’s viability on Ethereum and Solana, but Bitcoin was chosen for its secure and stable network at the end of the day. Matador added that physical gold reserves backing its digital representations will be held at the Royal Canadian Mint, a corporation owned solely by the Canadian government.

“Matador’s board and management believe in using Bitcoin to future-proof our treasury,” Matador President Sunny Ray said in a statement. “This step also supports our mission to explore using Bitcoin as a platform for our gold-based products.”

Among firms that have adopted Bitcoin this year, the Japanese investment firm Metaplanet has built up a $164 million stash since its first purchase in April, according to Bitcoin Treasuries. But there’s overlap between Metaplanet and Matador beyond Bitcoin and starting with the letter M.

BTC Inc., the parent company of Bitcoin Magazine, is known for hosting a popular line of Bitcoin conferences, but it also operates UTXO Management as its investment arm. 

The company’s co-founder and managing partner, Tyler Evans, sits on Metaplanet’s board of directors. In a press release earlier this month, Matador said that Evans would serve on its board of directors as well.

Matador, Evans, and Metaplanet did not immediately respond to a request for comment from Decrypt.

Edited by Andrew Hayward