French Crypto Consortium Goes All-In: $72M Bitcoin Buy After Bond Blitz

Paris isn’t just for romance anymore—blockchain players are making big moves. A local crypto collective just signaled a massive bet on Bitcoin, allocating $72 million from a recent bond sale into the OG cryptocurrency.

Why bonds to buy BTC? Maybe they’re tired of traditional finance’s 1% yields—or just hedging against the euro’s existential crisis. Either way, this institutional-scale purchase screams conviction in digital gold.

Watch for ripple effects: When French money talks, markets listen. Just don’t expect them to surrender those Bitcoin keys anytime soon.

Fulgur Ventures Leads €55.3M Investment in Blockchain Group Bond Sale

Venture capital firm Fulgur Ventures led the funding with a €55.3 million investment, while Moonlight Capital contributed €5 million.

The bonds are convertible into Blockchain Group shares at €3.809 per share.

Despite closing down nearly 5.5% on May 26 at €2.77, ALTBG stock has posted an extraordinary 766% gain year-to-date, following the company’s initial Bitcoin purchase in November 2023.

That MOVE alone triggered a 225% jump in the stock price at the time.

Blockchain Group’s 2024 earnings, released in late April, showed a 709% yield from its Bitcoin holdings, even as total annual revenue fell 32% to €13.86 million.

The company has outlined an ambitious long-term goal of acquiring 1% of Bitcoin’s total supply, roughly 170,000 BTC, by 2032.

The announcement comes amid a growing trend of public firms adopting Bitcoin as a treasury asset.

On May 22, Sweden’s H100 Group AB joined the list, while Strive Asset Management announced a similar pivot earlier this month.

With a shrinking supply and rising institutional interest, Blockchain Group’s aggressive Bitcoin strategy aligns with broader moves by companies seeking long-term exposure to the leading digital asset.

Blackstone Makes First Crypto Move

On May 20, Blackstone, the world’s largest alternative asset manager, made its first move into crypto markets, purchasing shares in BlackRock’s iShares Bitcoin Trust (IBIT), a spot Bitcoin exchange-traded fund.

According to a filing with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, Blackstone acquired 23,094 IBIT shares as of March 31, valued at approximately $1.08 million.

Prior to that, shares of Indonesian fintech firm DigiAsia Corp surged by over 91% on May 19, after the Nasdaq-listed company announced plans to raise $100 million to initiate Bitcoin purchases as part of a new treasury strategy.

The Jakarta-based firm revealed that its board has approved the creation of a Bitcoin treasury reserve.

DigiAsia says it intends to allocate up to 50% of its net profits toward acquiring Bitcoin, signaling a shift in how it plans to manage its capital amid growing corporate interest in digital assets.

Notably, public companies continue to increase their exposure to Bitcoin, with Michael Saylor’s firm, Strategy, leading the charge.

The Virginia-based company recently announced it WOULD double its capital-raising efforts to $84 billion in order to acquire more Bitcoin.