Publicly traded firm GD Culture has approved the sale of some of its 7,500 Bitcoin holdings to fund a $100 million share buyback program. The company’s shares rose approximately 15% following the announcement, though they remain down 60% from their 52-week high.
Publicly traded artificial intelligence and livestreaming firm GD Culture has approved the sale of portions of its 7,500 Bitcoin treasury to fund a new share repurchase initiative. The board-authorized program allows the company to buy back up to $100 million of its common stock over the next six months.
“The board’s authorization permits the company to execute the Bitcoin sales in one or more transactions, from time to time, as management determines to be in the best interests of the company and its shareholders,” the firm stated. Proceeds from the cryptocurrency sales are specifically earmarked for funding the share repurchases, though the company is under no obligation to sell a specific amount and can modify the plan at any time.
GD Culture accumulated the 7,500 BTC, valued at approximately $518 million, last September as part of an acquisition agreement with Pallas Capital. This move follows a trend of companies using crypto treasury assets to support their stock; in October, Ethereum treasury firm ETHZilla sold around $40 million in ETH for a similar buyback purpose.
Other cryptocurrency-centric firms have recently sold Bitcoin to finance corporate initiatives. Bitcoin miner Riot Platforms sold $200 million worth of BTC in November and December, which analysts linked to funding its artificial intelligence projects. Earlier this month, publicly traded miner Cango also parted with $305 million in Bitcoin.
