Semler Scientific now holds 828 Bitcoin and has $150M plan to buy more

Nasdaq-listed medical manufacturer Semler Scientific — which made headlines last month for adding Bitcoin (BTC) to its treasury — has bought another $17 million worth of the asset and may raise up to $150 million to buy more.

The firm’s latest Bitcoin purchase was revealed in an S-3 filing to the United States securities regulator on June 6. After making its first 581 Bitcoin purchase on May 28, it now holds 828 Bitcoin, worth over $58.5 million.

"[It underscores] our view that bitcoin is a compelling investment and can serve as a reliable store of value. We will continue to pursue our strategy of purchasing bitcoins with cash."

Semler isn’t wasting too much time, either. It announced that it can raise an additional $150 million of debt securities, with a portion of the proceeds used to buy more Bitcoin.

“We intend to use the net proceeds from the sale of any securities offered under this prospectus primarily for general corporate purposes, including the acquisition of bitcoin,” the firm wrote.

In a June 6 statement, the firm’s CEO, Doug Murphy-Chutorian, said Semler’s Bitcoin investment strategy has become the firm’s other top-line priority alongside its healthcare business.

Bitcoin, now Semsler’s primary treasury reserve asset, can serve as a “reasonable inflation hedge and safe haven amid global instability,” the firm said in its SEC filing.

“We also believe that its digital, architectural resilience makes it preferable to gold, which has a market value that greatly exceeds the market value of bitcoin,” Semler said. “Given the gap in value between gold and bitcoin, we believe that bitcoin has the potential to generate outsize returns as it gains increasing acceptance as ‘digital gold.’”

The firm iterated that it “has no plans to purchase cryptocurrency assets other than bitcoin.”

Semler’s (SMLR) stock spiked 30% on news of its May 28 purchase. However, it wasn’t able to pop this time around, falling 2.5% to $29.13 on June 6, Google Finance data shows.

Semler Scientific’s change in share price over the last month. Source: Google Finance

Related: Billionaire investor Bill Miller puts 50% of net worth in Bitcoin

Japan-based investment firm Metaplanet is another firm that has followed MicroStrategy’s Bitcoin playbook.

It first bought $6.5 million of Bitcoin on April 8 and has bought multiple purchases since, totaling 117.7 Bitcoin or $8.3 million at current prices.

Metaplanet’s last Bitcoin purchase on May 22 contributed to its being the best-performing stock on the Tokyo Stock Exchange for two consecutive days.

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