Beckham-Backed Prenetics Drops Bitcoin Treasury Plans After $48M Raise

• Prenetics has officially halted its Bitcoin purchases to focus all capital and attention on its consumer health brand IM8, which recently hit 100 million dollars in annual revenue.
• The company will keep its current stash of 510 Bitcoin as a reserve asset but is abandoning its previous goal of buying one coin per day.
• While Bitcoin and rival crypto-heavy stocks have struggled recently, Prenetics shares have surged 189% this year following this strategic shift toward its health business.

Prenetics (PRE) said it has stopped buying Bitcoin (BTC) and will not commit any further capital to expand its BTC holdings, citing a shift in priorities after rapid growth in its consumer health business, IM8.

The company said it halted purchases on Dec. 4 and will focus funding and management attention on IM8, which it said has reached more than US$100 million (AU$153 million) in annualised recurring revenue about 11 months after launch. 

CEO and co-founder Danny Yeung said the board backed concentrating resources on IM8 as the clearest route to long-term shareholder value.

Our board and management team unanimously agreed that the most promising path to creating significant, sustainable shareholder value is to devote our undivided attention to this opportunity clearly visible in IM8.

Danny Yeung, CEO of Prenetics.

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No More BTC For Prenetics

Prenetics began building a Bitcoin treasury in June, after raising money earlier in the year and promoting a Strategy-style approach of holding crypto on the balance sheet. 

In late October, Yeung announced a US$48 million (AU$73.4 million) funding round that included Kraken, Exodus, GPTX and American Ventures, and said the company planned to buy 1 BTC per day as part of a five-year target tied to revenue and Bitcoin growth.

Despite ending new purchases, Prenetics said it will keep its existing 510 BTC as a reserve asset, valued at nearly US$45 million (AU$68.8 million) as of Tuesday afternoon US time. The company is also backed and co-founded by former footballer David Beckham, as well as Kraken, DL Holdings, and American Ventures.

Prenetics shares are up 189% this year, while Bitcoin is down about 5.6% and Strategy’s MSTR shares have fallen nearly 48%, the company said.

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