Capital B Seeks Shareholder Approval for Massive Capital Raise to Boost Bitcoin Holdings

France-listed Bitcoin treasury company Capital B is asking shareholders to approve a massive new delegation of fresh capital-raising instruments, seeking authority to issue new equity and credit instruments to accelerate Bitcoin acquisitions.

Capital B submitted a new proposal to the board of directors seeking to allow the establishment of up to 5 billion euros ($5.8 billion) in capital increase through 125 billion shares at current nominal value and $116 billion in credit instruments, said Alexandre Laizet, the board director of Bitcoin Strategy at Capital B, in a Monday X post.

Shareholders can cast their votes online until the company's combined general meeting on June 17.

The request comes as Capital B continues to accumulate Bitcoin while other smaller treasury companies are selling holdings, winding down strategies or turning to hedging programs as market pressure builds.

The shareholder motion was filed two weeks after Capital B acquired 192 BTC for $15.2 million at an average purchase price of about $78,948 per Bitcoin, bringing its total holding to 3,135 BTC at the time. Capital B later announced a separate 4 BTC purchase on Monday, lifting its total to 3,139 BTC.

To date, Capital B said it raised about $325 million in capital, following its $17.8 million raise from strategic investors, including Blockstream CEO Adam Back and Paris-based asset manager TOBAM.

Source: Alexandre Laizet

Capital B’s share price fell by around 7% following the announcement and traded at $0.56 as of 10:17 am UTC. Yahoo Finance data shows.

The company’s shares are down 44% over the past six months, with Bitcoin’s price falling by over 19.4%, according to TradingView.

Capital B stock price, 1-day chart. Source: Yahoo Finance.

Capital B ranks as the 25th-largest Bitcoin treasury firm by holdings and as Europe’s second-largest following Germany’s Bitcoin Group SE, which holds 3,605 BTC, currently worth about $250 million, according to BitcoinTreasuries data.

Related: Mystery Bitcoin burn destroys 107 BTC worth about $8.5M

Bitcoin treasury firms remain pressured by bear market downturn

Capital B’s bid to scale up its Bitcoin accumulation comes as some smaller Bitcoin treasury companies are winding down operations.

On Thursday, France-based semiconductor company Sequans Communications said it had concluded its previously announced digital asset treasury strategy and shared plans to refocus solely on Internet of Things (IoT) semiconductor growth.

The company held 658 Bitcoin worth about $48 million at the time, and said it would “monetize remaining holdings over time,” resulting in a share price increase of about 14.5% in morning trading.

Source: Sequans

On Monday, Michael Saylor’s Strategy announced the sale of 32 BTC to fund the distribution of its preferred stock.

The transaction marked the company’s first reported Bitcoin sale since the 2022 tax-loss transaction and added to concerns tied to Strategy’s preferred stock financing model, as investors feared that the dividend payments may eventually force the company to sell its holdings.

On April 24, Nasdaq-listed Bitcoin treasury company Nakamoto announced an actively managed Bitcoin derivatives program aimed at generating recurring income from volatility and hedging part of its corporate BTC holdings against downside exposure. The company reported it sold 284 Bitcoin (worth about $20 million at the time) in a March 30 filing.