South Africa’s Altvest Capital (ALV) just became the first listed company in Africa to adopt bitcoin (BTC) as a strategic treasury asset. The company revealed the investment update via a press release on Friday, February 21, 2025.
According to Altvest, it has purchased one Bitcoin for its strategic treasury, following the same playbook as Strategy (MSTR) in the US and Metaplanet (3350) in Japan.
Altvest was founded in 2021 by Warren Wheatley and functions as an investment facilitator that manages fractional ownership of unlisted assets. According to Wheatley, the company sees Bitcoin as a “strategic reserve asset” that enhances its treasury portfolio while providing a “hedge against economic instability and currency depreciation.”
Altvest is only interested in Bitcoin, no alts
Altvest, a Johannesburg-based company, has reportedly paid 1.8 million rand ($98,200) to buy just over 1 BTC. The company has emphasized that it will only deal with Bitcoin and has no plans, at least for now, to buy alternative cryptocurrencies.
As far as Altvest is concerned, Bitcoin is the only digital asset that meets its “stringent investment criteria for a long-term treasury allocation.”
The South African investment firm has revealed that the initiative to acquire Bitcoin was “focused on preserving shareholder value, mitigating currency depreciation risks, and gaining exposure to a globally recognized store of value.”
The move also comes amid a corporate rush for Bitcoin by companies ready to add it as a strategic treasury asset. Michael Saylor’s Strategy (formerly known as MicroStrategy) has first mover advantage for pioneering the BTC accumulation movement. His firm started to buy BTC in 2020.
Strategy is the world’s largest corporate holder of Bitcoin, with 478,740 Bitcoins in its portfolio, worth more than $47 billion at current prices. Its Tokyo-based counterpart, Metaplanet, started buying Bitcoin in April last year and has acquired 2,031 tokens worth nearly $200 million.
Both companies are already seeing profits. Metaplanet’s shares have even become the best-performing Japanese equity over the past 12 months, with a gain of 3,900%.
Earlier this month, investment bank KBW started coverage of Strategy with an outperform rating and a $560 price target. The shares are currently $323.92.
Now that Altvest has bought one Bitcoin, its CEO Warren Wheatley has asked regulators for approval to raise around $10 million by selling shares.
He also revealed that the company’s board has done its due diligence regarding BTC in the form of risk assessment and is convinced Bitcoin is a great fit for its investment strategy.
South Africa leads Bitcoin adoption in Africa
Altvest’s decision to start investing in BTC highlights significant progress in the adoption of cryptocurrency in Africa, further providing proof that the region’s financial markets are finally warming up to the merits of BTC.
The latest move by Altvest is an example of how African fintech companies are leveraging blockchain technology to provide financial solutions. However, South Africa stands out on the continent as a hub for crypto companies.
Last April, the Financial Sector Conduct Authority approved more than 70 crypto asset service providers, including firms like Luno and VALR. Unfortunately, the registry refused to list key international crypto exchanges such as Coinbase or Binance, citing concerns about the region’s regulatory process.
The move was part of South Africa’s FSCA decision to incorporate crypto exchanges within the scope of the existing Financial Advisory and Intermediary Services (FAIS) Act.
This means that the FSCA will now evaluate crypto platforms based in South Africa on the criteria of transparency, ethical conduct, competency, and operational ability, aligning with the FAIS Act’s stringent ‘fit-and-proper’ requirements.
Under the new regulatory framework, consumers engaging with crypto exchanges will have access to enhanced protections and avenues for previously unavailable recourse in the case of financial mishaps or scams.
