Parataxis Korea to repeat Strategy and Metaplanet’s treasury plan in South Korea

Parataxis Holdings will offer a BTC treasury company for the South Korean market. The new group will be created after a reverse merger with the locally listed biotech firm Bridge Biotherapeutics. 

Pataraxis Holdings has announced a reverse merger with the South Korean public company Bridge Biotherapeutics. The deal was closed at a price of 25M Korean won ($18.5M). After the merger, the new public company will be traded as Parataxis Korea. 

The merged company will become the South Korean version of Strategy and Metaplanet, launching a BTC treasury campaign. 

“Inspired by the growing interest in BTC treasury strategies seen in companies like Strategy in the US and Metaplanet in Japan, we believe institutional interest in this space is increasing globally. We see South Korea as an important market in the evolution of BTC adoption. Our intent is to support institutional access to BTC exposure while emphasizing sound corporate governance and disciplined capital management,” said Andrew Kim, Partner at Parataxis Capital.

The firm joins a growing list of companies announcing upcoming or already finished BTC purchases, even for minimal treasuries. Building a reserve has drawn attention to multiple new buyers, who have not previously shown any interest in crypto-related services. 

Parataxis Capital switches to BTC maximalism

Parataxis Holdings is an affiliate of Parataxis Capital, a multi-strategy investment company with an interest in crypto projects. The firm is categorized as a Tier-4 investment fund, participating in just nine funding rounds. 

The last investment of Parataxis was in ZTX, a Web3 metaverse project. Based on its previous forays into older Web3 trends such as governance and NFT marketplaces, Parataxis achieved minimal returns on its investments. 

Following the recent trend of reverse mergers and equity-financed BTC treasuries, Parataxis found a suitable public company, though for now without announcing any plans for equity or debt issuance. 

Bridge Biotherapeutics was distressed before the acquisition

Bridge Biotherapeutics shows a similar trading story to Eyenovia, an ophthalmology company that pivoted to a BTC treasury strategy. 

Bridge Biotherapeutics saw its stock crash in April, erasing over 76% of its value. The company faced a significant reduction in revenues, losing 96.7% of income on one of its leading licensed drugs.

The biotech firm was founded in 2015 and became public in 2019. The company has a relatively risky model with clinical-stage drugs, focusing on development and commercial distribution of specialized drugs. 

A total of 131 public companies and 29 private firms hold BTC in dedicated treasuries. However, not all public companies follow the Strategy playbook. BTC acquisitions depend on the availability of liquidity and demand for buying the company’s stock. 

In the case of Bridge Biotherapeutics, the stock price rallied in the past 30 days, rising rapidly following the shift to a BTC strategy. Despite this, the stock price remains near its all-time low and is still far from the recent peak valuation.

Building a BTC strategy is no guarantee for sustainable stock growth, despite the rapid short-term gains.