- Semler Scientific bought 247 Bitcoin, worth $17 million, to add to piling BTC holdings
- Healthcare firm kicked off a $150 million funding round to get more of the orange coin
- Company profile begins to look increasingly similar to data analytics firm MicroStrategy
Semler Makes New BTC Purchase
Semler Scientific, a healthcare technology company, revealed Thursday that it has purchased 247 Bitcoin for a total of $17 million, at an average price per token of $68,825. The new amount adds to the company’s total stack of 828 BTC acquired at an aggregate value of $57 million, Semler’s press release states.
What’s more, the Bitcoin-loving firm filed an S-3 filing with the US Securities and Exchange Commission to raise $150 million worth of debt securities. An unspecified amount of that fundraising, the company notes, will be used to acquire more Bitcoin.
“Semler remains focused on our two strategies of expanding our healthcare business and acquiring and holding bitcoin,” said Semler Scientific chief executive Doug Murphy-Chutorian. “We will continue to pursue our strategy of purchasing bitcoins with cash.”
MicroStrategy Vibes
What’s behind Semler’s drive to get its hands on Bitcoin? Similar to data analytics firm MicroStrategy, notorious for its aggressive, and even borderline fanatic, Bitcoin purchases, Semler believes Bitcoin provides a hedge against inflation.
“We believe it has unique characteristics as a scarce and finite asset that can serve as a reasonable inflation hedge and safe haven amid global instability,” the S-3 filing says.
Bitcoin tracking site BitcoinTreasuries.net, which shows the Bitcoin holdings of public companies, places MicroStrategy in the number one spot with 214,400 BTC worth a total of $15 billion. Collectively, all public companies hold roughly 309,000 BTC.