Brazilian Listed Firm Méliuz Raises $32.5M to Expand Bitcoin Holdings

Brazilian listed fintech company Méliuz (CASH3) has raised $32.5 million (R$180.08 million) through a new equity offering to increase its bitcoin holdings. The move reinforces the company’s strategic shift to position BTC as a core asset in its corporate treasury.

The offering was priced at R$7.06 ($1.27) per share, compared to Méliuz’s closing price of R$7.43 on Thursday. News of the raise was followed by a more than 5% drop in the company’s stock during Friday’s trading session. BTG Pactual acted as the book-runner for the transaction.

Méliuz Doubles Down on Bitcoin

According to Méliuz, the raised funds will be used exclusively to acquire bitcoin. This reinforces a commitment first disclosed in March, when the company announced it would allocate 10% of its cash reserves to BTC.

To facilitate this strategy, Méliuz issued nearly 26 million new nominative, book-entry common shares with no nominal value. It also granted 43,361,563 warrants across five series, allocated proportionally to share subscriptions.

Initial Raise and Terms

The new R$180 million funding round follows an earlier effort this year, in which Méliuz proposed raising up to $78 million through the issuance of 17 million common shares. That earlier plan aimed to position the company as Brazil’s “first bitcoin treasury company.”

As part of that plan, the company also proposed expanding the offering to 51 million shares, depending on investor demand. It included a package of free subscription warrants, with up to 152 million tied to share purchases. Share settlement and warrant distribution for the new offering are expected to be completed by June 18, while trading of the warrants is scheduled to begin on June 16.

Méliuz’s move reflects a growing trend among publicly listed companies adding bitcoin to their balance sheets. In a similar development, U.S.-based video game retailer GameStop recently disclosed an initial purchase of 4,710 BTC. While the company did not specify the purchase cost, the acquisition was valued at approximately $513 million.