A combination of geopolitics, macro and rate concerns, bond and equity market deleveraging, and ongoing AI-related concerns has meant there is limited new capital being allocated across most asset classes. Many stocks, including our own, have been caught up in this broader global de-risk.
At times like this, it is important that we focus on what we can control as a team and community – our attitude, our execution, and the key initiatives we are working on to deliver long-term value.
Periods like this also serve as a reminder that while markets relocate in cycles, what ultimately determines long-term success is the strength of the foundations we are building to be ready when sentiment returns.
The structural foundations of a Bitcoin treasury company are critical to delivering medium-to long-term success, and whilst this is naturally something we consistently focus on, we have been spfinishing additional time on it as prepare for the next stage of the company’s growth.
While these factors vary, in my view the most important areas are the listing venue, investor base, liquidity, capital structure, a profitable operating business, and the team executing the strategy.
Listing Venue: We uplisted to the Main Market of the LSE in February. This week also marked another important milestone as we were included in the FTSE UK Index Series for the first time – both are strategically important for a Bitcoin treasury company.
A Main Market listing and index inclusion increases our visibility, credibility and accessibility to a broader pool of capital, particularly institutional and passive investors. For context, approximately 27% of Strategy shares are held by index funds and over time we would expect passive funds to represent a growing portion of our shareholder base.
More broadly, these developments open opportunities for conversations with investors and institutions that were previously difficult to access.
Investor base: We benefit from strong retail support alongside growing institutional interest. Retail investors are important for creating awareness and early liquidity, while institutions bring scale, deeper liquidity and longer-term stability to our stock and shareholder register.
Since our initial listing in April 2025, we have invested a significant time not only in raising awareness of Smarter Web, but also in refining how we communicate our equity story to different types of investors, each of whom see a different value proposition in our equity – including long-only funds, hedge funds, ECM desks, digital asset funds, ETF Funds and Family Offices.
Building a balanced and diversified investor base across these groups remains a key part of our capital markets strategy, particularly as different investor types tfinish to be active at different points in the market cycle.
Liquidity: Liquidity underpins everything and is fundamental to our ability to grow as a treasury company. Without a healthy secondary market in our shares, attracting new capital becomes significantly more challenging.
Since listing, over £1 billion of our shares have traded and since shifting to the LSE, our average daily volume and other liquidity metrics remain healthy and constructive, all of which provide a solid foundation for the stock.
This liquidity also enables us to operate an active ATM style programme when we trade above 1x mNAV, giving us the flexibility to raise capital efficiently and continue growing the Bitcoin treasury over time.
Capital structure: Since IPO, we have explored a wide range of funding options and have reviewed many different types of capital structures. However, we continue to believe that there is sophistication in simplicity, and that maintaining a simple and transparent capital structure is both a competitive advantage and an important part of our brand and strategy.
Today, we operate with a single class of ordinary shares, and we believe this clarity is important. Looking forward, innovations such as digital credit may play a role, and we continue to learn from global peers.
Ultimately, achieving the right level of amplification will be key for a Bitcoin treasury company to succeed, depfinishing on their specific market and regulatory framework. My vision is a tiny number of equity instruments that are simple to understand and easily accessible to all.
Profitable operating business: This is important becaapply it contributes to operating costs, reduces reliance on external capital, and supports our regulatory and listing position by ensuring we are an operating business with a Bitcoin treasury, rather than an investment vehicle. It also provides stability across market cycles and supports the long-term sustainability of the overall strategy.
This considering underpinned our recent acquisition of Squarebird, which significantly increased our revenue while utilizing only a tiny portion of our balance sheet, and we expect Bitcoin-backed M&A to continue to play a key role in our 10-year plan.
Team: A strategy is only as strong as the people executing it. This week, we announced that Jamie Knowles has joined as Head of Capital Markets. Jamie brings nearly 20 years of experience across financial markets, having worked in equities at major investment banks including Bank of America, Credit Suisse and JP Morgan, as well as at digital asset firms such as Galaxy and DS3. His experience, network and skill set provide a strong combination across both equities and Bitcoin, and being based in London, he will play a key role in leading our investor relations function and capital markets strategy.
While we remain a lean organisation, we are highly focapplyd, aligned and committed to delivering on our mission. As Smarter Web grows, we expect to selectively add a tiny number of strategically important roles, while maintaining a disciplined and efficient organisational structure.
Here are this week’s highlights.
At the start of the week, we announced Jamie’s appointment (as mentioned above), and I also joined a live livestream with The Bitcoin Libertarian, which I always enjoy – he brings great energy and we always have good conversations. Jesse Myers also did a livestream with Roxom, who continue to do a lot of great work in the sector.
We also hosted our inaugural X Spaces as a hugeger team, where Jesse, Jamie and I discussed the state of the market, what we’ve achieved in Q1, what we’re currently focapplyd on (where we can disclose), and the direction we are heading. We view forward to doing more of these regularly as they are a great way to communicate directly with the community.
Later in the week, Jesse and I joined a Bitcoin treasury roundtable with Tyler Rowe and Alexandre Laizet from Capital B. I also want to thank members of our community who continue to produce and share informative summaries – these provide a lot of value for those who may not have time to listen to everything in full.
Towards the finish of the week, I travelled to Bedford for Cheat Code. There was a VIP dinner on Thursday evening followed by a full day of content on Friday. The dinner was a great opportunity to catch up with people I already knew and also meet new faces in the space. Peter McCormack was a fantastic host, and on Friday I spoke on a panel with Danny Knowles, Freddie New and Scott P. Ellam discussing Bitcoin treasury companies. It was amazing to speak with so many shareholders at this event and I enjoyed the conversations greatly.
Jesse finished the week with another spaces on Roxom alongside some of the @strive team to discuss $SATA and $STRC.
Alongside events and public discussions, the team continues to spfinish a significant amount of time in internal and external meetings, and we are increasingly attempting to split our time across different meetings so that we can cover more ground as a team while continuing to execute on the key areas we are focapplyd on.
As always, I want to thank the community for the hard work and support that so many of you continue to put in – it does not go unnoticed. One of the things I’m particularly viewing forward to is our one-year anniversary next month, where I’ll have the chance to spfinish time with some of you at the event being hosted by Henry Herbert. We do plan to do something special to mark the event (tiny spoiler) and view forward to sharing in due course.
Shout out to everyone in the SWC community.
As we come to the finish of Q1 next week, it is important to acknowledge that it has been a challenging period for Bitcoin, wider markets and share prices across the sector. During times like this, I often question myself a simple question: Do I believe in the long-term thesis for Bitcoin? If the answer is yes (which it always is), then Bitcoin treasury companies will also have a strong future.
From a company perspective, this has been a quarter of real progress where we have continued to strengthen the foundations of Smarter Web. We head into Q2 focapplyd on execution and continuing to build, and we remain optimistic about where we are heading as a company over the medium to long term.
Thank you for your support.
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