Semler Scientific Soars 48% After Adopting Bitcoin as Reserve Asset 

Semler Scientific said Tuesday that it has adopted bitcoin (BTC) as its primary treasury reserve asset. Shares of the California-based healthcare technology manufacturer soared 48% in Nasdaq stock market trading after the news.

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The company also revealed that it bought 581 BTC for $40 million, as it follows MicroStrategy’s profitable bet on the ‘digital gold.’ Semler makes medical devices that it says help to “enhance the clinical effectiveness and efficiency of healthcare providers.”

‘Bitcoin Is a Reliable Store of Value’

Semler Scientific chair Eric Semler said his top management studied alternative asset classes for excess revenue from the sales of QuantaFlo, its flagship test kit for peripheral arterial disease.

The company, which has a market capitalization of $219 million, decided bitcoin would generate more returns than gold. In a statement, Semler said:

“Our bitcoin treasury strategy and purchase of bitcoin underscore our belief that bitcoin is a reliable store of value and a compelling investment.”

“We believe it has unique characteristics as a scarce and finite asset that can serve as a reasonable inflation hedge and safe haven amid global instability,” he added.

Semler said, “Given the gap in value between gold and bitcoin, we believe that bitcoin has the potential to generate outsize returns as it gains increasing acceptance as digital gold.”

Semler Scientific Shares Surge

Shares of Semler Scientific rose as much as 48% to $36.94 in Nasdaq stock market trading following the news on Tuesday.

As of writing, the stock has pared some of those gains, falling to just over $31, according to data from Yahoo Finance. Over the past year, the share price has touched a high of $52.38 and a low of $20.88.

Meanwhile, the price of bitcoin fell 0.1% to $67,550 over the past 24 hours, per CoinGecko.

The medical startup is looking to grow sustainably from its bitcoin boost. Semler Scientific’s choice of bitcoin was also motivated by the asset’s mainstream acceptance “reflected most recently by the Securities and Exchange Commission’s approval of 11 bitcoin exchange-traded funds.”

The company said it considered the $13 billion of net inflows of the ETFs, bolstered by investments from “nearly 1,000 institutions, including global banks, pensions, endowments and registered investment advisors.”

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While the adoption of bitcoin for corporate treasury is still relatively low, an estimated 10% of all BTC is now held by institutions, according to the Bitcoin Treasuries. The software-maker, MicroStrategy, holds 214,000 bitcoin worth more than $14.4 billion.

Cryptopolitan Reporting by Jeffrey Gogo