The shares of Semler Scientific, a medical technology company that manufactures products and services for the early detection of chronic diseases, have soared more than 42% after the adoption of a MicroStrategy-like Bitcoin strategy.
Earlier this Tuesday, Semler Scientific announced the acquisition of 581 Bitcoins for $40 million.
Eric Semler, the company's chairman, said that the flagship cryptocurrency could soar as a "reasonable inflation hedge" in his statement.
Semler Scientific's bold move was spotlighted by none other than MicroStrategy co-founder Michael Saylor. In August 2020, MicroStrategy famously adopted Bitcoin as its treasury reserve asset. The Virginia-based business intelligence firm is currently the largest corporate holder of Bitcoin, with its total holdings reaching 214,000 BTC.
Alex DovbnyaAs reported by U.Today, the MicroStrategy stock is on track to be added to the MSCI World Index.
While Saylor has managed to successfully revive his company, Bitcoin's corporate adoption has been rather underwhelming. Tesla made waves with its $1.5 billion Bitcoin purchase in February 2021, but it has not acquired any crypto since then. Block (formerly Square) purchased $170 million worth of Bitcoin in 2021 as well. However, very few companies have added the crypto king to their balance sheets since then.
Confusing accounting rules are one of the reasons why companies are reluctant to add the flagship cryptocurrency to their balance sheets. Companies that hold Bitcoin have to deal with impairment losses due to the cryptocurrency's volatility. However, new accounting rules, which will go into effect next year, will make it easier for companies to hold Bitcoin by requiring companies to record their digital assets at fair value.
Dan Burgin