The Norwegian holding company Aker ASA, run by billionaire investor Kjell Inge Røkke, is creating a new business unit called Seetee AS. The latter will focus on investments in projects and companies «across the Bitcoin ecosystem.»
The division plans to keep all its liquid investable assets in the first cryptocurrency, and the company launched a new direction with the purchase of 1,170 BTC worth about $ 58.5 million. That is, Aker ASA joins the growing list of large organizations that make direct investments in the crypto market. Let’s understand the situation in more detail.
Note that there are still relatively few buyers of bitcoins and other cryptocurrencies among large companies. The most popular of these are MicroStrategy and Tesla. The management of the first managed to purchase more than 91 thousand bitcoins, and the average purchase price of a cryptocurrency was $ 24,119. And since today BTC is at the level of 54 thousand dollars, the giant’s investment has at least doubled.
Tesla acquired $ 1.5 billion worth of BTC in January 2021, according to the company’s representatives in February. This provoked an active growth in the coin rate: as a result, Bitcoin set a historical maximum at $ 58,640.
Bitcoin price chart in 2021
However, the active growth of Bitcoin has not convinced all the heads of different companies. In particular, PayPal CEO Dan Shulman said that the payment giant is not yet ready to put up with the serious volatility of BTC – that is, sharp changes in its rate. This means that now the company will not transfer part of its funds to the first cryptocurrency.
Who buys bitcoins
Aker ASA was founded in 1841 and is listed on the Oslo Stock Exchange and is active in the fields of marine fisheries, construction and engineering. The company also invests in industrial software, fintech solutions and clean energy.
And although the niches of the company’s interest can be called advanced, the decision to invest in Bitcoin and get close to cryptocurrencies still seems unusual. This further underscores how young the blockchain asset industry and the technology itself are. In the future, new areas of application await it – and completely unexpected ones.
For example, one of the most popular industries at the moment is digital art using unique NFT tokens. Thanks to the transparency and immutability of the blockchain, people can own certain objects – both real and virtual – and be confident in their uniqueness. In addition, it is quite easy to prove your ownership of the item, since anyone can study the contents of the blockchain.
One of Aker ASA offices
In addition to buying and owning bitcoins, the company intends to establish partnerships with leading players in the cryptocurrency ecosystem. Seetee will initially partner with major crypto company Blockstream, with a focus on mining BTC at Aker industrial facilities and new blockchains.
We’ve checked the actual details: Seetee’s website states that Bitcoin is now a «treasury asset» for the company. Employees of the latter purchased 1,170 BTC and intend to keep the cryptocurrency for a long time. This strategy is also known as «hold» or «hodling». Read more about it and the history of the word in a separate article.
Seetee website screenshot
The company representative also noted that they «do not want to wait for the future, but want to join and participate in its creation.»
According to Rökke, Aker ASA’s decision to enter the crypto market was not spontaneous. It is the result of a long and intense research of the market, its prospects and characteristics. Here is a quote from a company representative in which he talks about his own experience of interacting with the cryptocurrency industry. The cue is from Decrypt.
I have been absorbing a huge stream of information like water from a fire hose since the summer. I have done detailed research on cryptocurrency articles, books, podcasts and videos.
This means that the company’s management did not come to its decision because of the striking example of Tesla or MicroStrategy. Aker employees got acquainted with the advantages of cryptocurrency by the type of its limitation of 21 million BTC and reliability, after which they decided to transfer funds to BTC. According to the employees of the aforementioned MicroStrategy company, they buy bitcoins not for profit, but for the transition to a new financial system.
The head of the company noted such famous personalities as Sayfiddin Ammos, Andreas Antonopolous, Adam Back and Chamat Palihapitiya, with whom he held discussions on the future of digital assets. It looks like Aker ASA management is now fully convinced of the potential of Bitcoin and altcoins, so it is likely that the company will soon make a new round of investments in the crypto market.
We believe that the company’s decision is fully justified. Cryptocurrencies and blockchain are one of the most promising industries today, the scope of which has not yet been fully disclosed. This means that it would be at least shortsighted to pass by such opportunities. So Aker’s desire to create a dedicated unit for cryptocurrencies reflects the global situation and adds confidence in a bright future for the industry.
