Cryptocurrencies, especially Bitcoin, have seen a massive surge over the past year amid its growing adoption among retail and institutional investors.
Video game company Nexon Co Ltd (OTC: NEXOY) has become the latest company to acquire Bitcoin as the online game provider bought $100 million worth of Bitcoin. Nexon has now joined public companies like electric automaker Tesla Inc (NASDAQ: TSLA) and business intelligence company MicroStrategy Inc (NASDAQ: MSTR).
Nexon Announces Bitcoin Purchase
According to an announcement published on the 28th of April, Nexon bought a total of 1,717 Bitcoins. Each coin was gotten at an average price of $58,226, fees and expenses inclusive. The company stated that the Bitcoin investment represents less than 2% of its total cash and cash equivalents on hand.
“Our purchase of bitcoin reflects a disciplined strategy for protecting shareholder value and for maintaining the purchasing power of our cash assets. In the current economic environment, we believe bitcoin offers long-term stability and liquidity while maintaining the value of our cash for future investments,” Nexon president and CEO Owen Mahoney said.
Also, Mahoney referred to Bitcoin as a “form of cash likely to retain its value, even if it is not yet widely recognized.”
Nexon’s investment in Bitcoin is not the company’s first move towards crypto. In 2017, Nexon’s holding company, NXC Corp., bought its first exchange – Korbit. NXC acquired Korbit for 91.3 billion KRW, representing about $80 million at the time. Shortly after buying Korbit, NXC also obtained Bitstamp exchange for about $400 million.
Earlier this year, rumors had it that Nexon was planning to add Bithumb crypto exchange to its acquisitions. However, the company denied it and said there are no such plans for Bithumb.
Bitcoin Gains Popularity among Institutions
Cryptocurrencies, especially Bitcoin, have seen a massive surge over the past year amid its growing adoption among retail and institutional investors. Bitcoin, in particular, has grown in popularity and grown more than 5 times in the last twelve months. BTC, which traded around $25,000 in December, has spiked to reach an all-time high of nearly $64,000 sometime this month.
Last year, MicroStrategy began acquiring Bitcoin and had added more since then. In August, the company started by buying 21,000 BTC, worth $250 million, at the time. MicroStrategy has been buying more BTC and now has more than 90,000 coins.
Also, financial services and digital payments company Square Inc (NYSE: SQ) bought $50 million worth of Bitcoin. Square’s Bitcoin purchase came about two months after MicroStrategy’s initial BTC purchase. Square’s acquisition was worth 4,709 BTCs. Also, users of Square’s CashApp can invest in Bitcoin on the platform.
Furthermore, Tesla made headlines when the EV company announced its Bitcoin purchase. Towards the end of 2020, Tesla invested $1.5 billion in Bitcoin. Tesla revealed its debut into the crypto space in a filing with the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).
According to Bitcoin Treasuries, 35 public companies, led by MicroStrategy, currently hold Bitcoin. The report also highlighted 4 private companies with Bitcoin holdings.
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