South Korean entertainment company K Wave Media has reached an agreement to raise up to $500 million to support a Bitcoin-focused crypto treasury strategy.
K Wave announced on June. 4 that it has agreed to sell up to $500 million in ordinary shares to Bitcoin Strategic Reserve KWM to help fund its Bitcoin treasury. K Wave Media co-interim CEO Ted Kim said:
By embedding BTC into our core strategy, we’re reinforcing our commitment to decentralization, agility, and future-facing value creation.
K Wave Media plans to be Korea’s Metaplanet
The firm said it aims to become Korea’s “Metaplanet,” and its stock jumped after adopting a Bitcoin-focused strategy inspired by the business intelligence firm Strategy (formerly MicroStrategy). At the time of writing, the firm’s stock had risen 162% on Nasdaq, trading at $5.04.
The proceeds from the deal will be used to support the firm’s “Bitcoin-focused digital asset treasury strategy.” The funds suggest they may also buy other cryptocurrencies.
The media company also intends to use the funds for mergers and acquisitions to grow its content and K-POP businesses. However, Bitcoin remains the main focus of these plans.
Financing the Bitcoin treasury
Under this initiative, K Wave will, within certain limits, use a significant portion of the money from selling shares to buy, hold long-term, and maximize returns from Bitcoin.
The company also plans to run Bitcoin Lightning Network nodes and invest in infrastructure that supports on-chain transaction rewards and promotes decentralization.
K Wave Media is the latest public company to start holding Bitcoin as part of its corporate reserves. The firm follows a trend that began with MicroStrategy in 2020 and has since caught on with several companies in Asia, including Metaplanet, according to Bitcoin Treasuries data.
