Capital B shareholders approve €5 billion equity and €100 billion credit framework for Bitcoin buying spree

Yesterday, June 17, shareholders of the French Bitcoin treasury company Capital B approved a massive fundraising plan, authorizing the issuance of up to €5 billion in new equity and €100 billion in credit instruments.

This decision grants the firm one of the largest capital-raising mandates ever seen among European cryptocurrency firms.

What is Capital B planning, and why was it approved?

More than 95% of votes cast at the company’s annual general meeting backed every resolution on the table, according to a press release Capital B published the same day. Shareholders representing roughly 164.6 million voting rights participated, covering about 54.7% of the 300.6 million voting rights outstanding.

At a current value of €0.04 per share, authorizing the equity plan could create as many as 125 billion new shares.

Capital B currently holds 3,139 BTC and has set an aggressive long-term goal to acquire 1% of the total Bitcoin supply (approximately 210,000 BTC) by 2033.

How Capital B achieved the vote

On June 2, Board director Alexandre Laizet posted the plan on X, explaining that the authorization allows the board to steadily raise capital over time and provides more flexibility than executing a massive capital raise all at once.

Nonetheless, Capital B’s recent fundraising history tells a story of explosive growth. In March, the company raised €3 million through share subscription warrants from TOBAM and UTXO Management.

By May, a €15.2 million private placement brought TOBAM back and also included Blockstream CEO Adam Back. These capital injections allowed the company to buy an additional 196 Bitcoins, bringing the company’s total treasury holdings up to 3,139 BTC.

Adam Back’s stake in the project is expected to reach 13.43% after the May placement, with Blockstream Capital Partners at 14.42% and TOBAM at 4.20%.

A Bitcoin-backed credit product is also in the works

The day before the shareholder vote, Laizet had already set up a future where Capital B launches a digital credit instrument for European investors while he was talking in a BTC Prague interview. The product Laizet teased would be tracing the framework behind Strategy’s STRC preferred stock and Strive’s SATA, targeting double-digit yields with volatility kept below double digits.

Laizet argued that Bitcoin treasury firms can support high-yield credit by leveraging the long-term appreciation of Bitcoin, distinguishing this from traditional models that usually rely on steady cash flow.

According to Laizet, that’s why Strategy could sell 32 BTC to cover distributions on its STRC preferred stock, then turn around to buy 1,587 BTC shortly after.

Investor appetite also seems to be growing. Laizet said Capital B experienced a 10x increase in demand for digital credit products compared to the previous year. However, no launch date has been set yet.

The risks involved and the bigger picture

Laizet also acknowledged risks like Bitcoin price declines, execution uncertainty, custody exposure, and counterparty risk. According to him, Capital B only works with regulated banking partners.

The strategy puts Capital B squarely in a category alongside Strategy (formerly MicroStrategy) in the US and Metaplanet in Japan. On the BitcoinTreasuries.net leaderboard, Capital B ranks 26th among public companies globally with its 3,139 BTC. Strategy leads at 846,842 BTC.

However, not every treasury-focused company is following the same style. French semiconductor firm Sequans Communications recently abandoned its digital asset strategy and plans to sell off its 658 BTC position. Strategy itself also made its first Bitcoin sale since 2022 to fund stock distributions.

According to Google Finance data, Capital B’s stock is trading at €0.45 as of today, which is still below its yearly high of €2.99. With the company’s market cap of roughly €136 million, it remains to be seen whether European investors will assign a premium to the leveraged Bitcoin exposure model, just like US markets did for Strategy.

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