Capital B Seeks Shareholder Approval for $12.2 Billion to Buy More Bitcoin

France-listed bitcoin treasury company Capital B is seeking shareholder approval for a major fundraising mandate to finance additional bitcoin purchases. The move comes as some treasury firms scale back their holding strategies during bitcoin’s downturn, while Capital B is pushing to expand its buying.

Cointelegraph reported on June 2 that Capital B had submitted a proposal to authorize the issuance of new shares and debt instruments to accelerate bitcoin purchases.

Alexandre Laizet, the company’s director of bitcoin strategy, wrote in a post on X that Capital B is seeking authority to raise as much as 5 billion euros ($5.8 billion) in equity and issue up to 10 billion euros ($11.6 billion) in debt instruments. That would bring the total fundraising capacity to about $12.2 billion.

Shareholders can vote online on the proposal ahead of the company’s annual and extraordinary general meetings on June 17.

Capital B has continued to add to its bitcoin holdings. The company said it bought 192 bitcoin two weeks ago at an average price of $78,948, for a total of $15.2 million. It separately purchased another 4 bitcoin on June 2, lifting total holdings to 3,139 bitcoin.

Capital B said it has raised about $325 million to date. That includes a $17.8 million strategic investment involving Blockstream Chief Executive Officer Adam Back and Paris-based asset manager TOBAM.

Investors reacted negatively. Cointelegraph reported that Capital B shares fell about 7% after the announcement and traded at $0.56. The stock has dropped 44% over the past six months, while bitcoin has fallen more than 19.4% over the same period.

Capital B ranks 25th globally among bitcoin treasury companies by holdings. In Europe, it is the second-largest bitcoin treasury company after Germany’s Bitcoin Group SE, which holds 3,605 bitcoin.

The request comes as bitcoin treasury companies face pressure in the bear market. French semiconductor company Sequans Communications recently said it would end its digital-asset treasury strategy and refocus on growth in Internet of Things semiconductor chips. The company held about 658 bitcoin at the time and said it planned to liquidate its remaining holdings in stages for cash.

Strategy, formerly MicroStrategy, also recently sold 32 bitcoin to fund dividends on its preferred shares. It was the company’s first reported bitcoin sale since a 2022 transaction to realize a tax loss, fueling debate over the sustainability of bitcoin treasury companies’ holding strategies.

Nasdaq-listed bitcoin treasury company Nakamoto also announced a bitcoin derivatives program in April aimed at hedging part of its holdings and generating recurring returns from volatility. If bitcoin’s weakness persists, differences in strategy among treasury companies could become more pronounced.