Bitcoin mining firm, BTC Digital (BTCT), has moved $1 million of company cash into ether (ETH), which it called its new “digital gold.”
BTCT Moved $1M Into Ethereum Reserve, chief executive officer Siguang Peng said in a press release, adding that Ethereum has “emerged as the foundation of on-chain USD settlement and value transfer.”
“By securing an initial $1 million ETH reserve today—and with plans to scale that position—we are proactively positioning ourselves for decentralized finance, stablecoin issuance, and asset tokenization,” Peng said.
BTCT plans to grow the reserve as upgrades lift capacity and U.S. rules solidify. BTC Digital was previously a bitcoin mining company. The firm recently said that “its 20 MW large–scale cryptocurrency mining project in Georgia has reached a significant milestone.”
The company doesn’t state if it still plans to mine bitcoin, but said it is “building on its origins in large–scale crypto mining, BTCT is undergoing a strategic evolution from “hash–rate provider” to “on–chain financial infrastructure participant,” in the press release.
BTC Digital is the second publicly traded bitcoin miner turning to an ether treasury. Earlier this month Bit Digital (BTBT) shifted its entire treasury from BTC to ETH as it moved to a staking strategy. The move saw its stock jump up to 30%. It has since corrected in a nearly 20% drop.
Meanwhile, BTCT’s stock closed Friday’s trading session 13% higher.
Publicly-known ether treasuries, which include the treasuries of decentralized autonomous organizations (DAOs), Layer-2 networks, and publicly-traded firms, currently hold more than 1.34 million ETH, according to a public tracker.