Altvest Capital to rebrand as Africa Bitcoin Corporation, the continent's first Bitcoin Treasury company

Altvest Capital plans to rename itself Africa Bitcoin Corporation after an announcement on Monday that it will become the first Bitcoin Treasury company on the continent.

The AltX-listed black-owned and managed SME financing and financial services company also announced an equity capital raise through the issue of 1 million Altvest shares at R11 per share. The share price fell 2.08% to R4.70 on the JSE on Monday morning after the release of the announcement. Other Bitcoin Treasury companies in the world include the US-based MicroStrategy, Tesla, and Marathon Digital Holdings.

In February, the company told shareholders it had acquired 1.00464 Bitcoin (BTC) as part of its long-term treasury strategy, and that it would monitor its Bitcoin holdings in light of market conditions and regulatory developments. The aim of the purchase was to offer its shareholders long-term value anchored in a “resilient and globally liquid asset,” a statement from the company said on Monday.

An online search by BR showed that as of February 2, 2025, Bitcoin closed at $97 682.86, which was about R1.84 million at the prevailing exchange rate. On Monday, Bitcoin is trading at about R1.95m per Bitcoin.

Altvest, which moved its listing from the Cape Town Stock Exchange to the JSE in October 2024, is a debt and equity funder of SMEs, having raised and deployed more than R500m in SMEs since 2022. It also provides alternative investments and financial services such as credit and equity funding, insurance, retirement planning, and wealth management and advisory services.

The company’s directors said that following its initial Bitcoin acquisition, it will now formally adopt a Bitcoin Treasury Strategy, in terms of which it will accumulate and hold Bitcoin to preserve value, hedge against inflation, and increase long-term shareholder exposure to BTC’s potential upside.

Altvest’s board said the strategy also aligned with their mandate to democratise access to alternative investment opportunities.

The company’s existing income-generating operations and legacy investments, including those associated with the provision of asset management and other services to the Altvest Credit Opportunities Fund, Umganu Lodge, and Bambanani, would continue uninterrupted. This was to ensure shareholders benefit from both the upside of the Bitcoin treasury strategy, as well as the stable earnings profile of its established operations, they said.

The company said the JSE did not, at this stage, have any regulatory framework in place to regulate issuers investing in crypto assets.

“Once such a regulatory framework has been put in place by the JSE, the company undertakes to adhere thereto,” Altvest’s board said.

The company said it intended to embark on various capital-raising activities over the coming months to raise funds to acquire Bitcoin.

In Altvest’s annual report for the year to February 28, profit for the year amounted to R47.94m (R60.66m), driven by revenue of R7.59m, asset management fees of R4.87m, and administrative fees of R2.52m. There was also a significant uplift in earnings from fair value adjustments on investments, the most notable of which was an R86.22m fair value gain on the investment in the Altvest Credit Opportunities Fund. This gain, the directors said, was mainly due to improved loan book performance, higher-than-expected interest income, and lower SME book default rates.

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