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Valereum announced Thursday it intends to sell its bitcoin mining operations to Vinanz in exchange for a 24% stake in the company as the blockchain firm looks to buy and expand the Gibraltar Stock Exchange. The sale is subject to Vinanz being listed on a stock exchange, added Valereum.
Valereum to Focus on the Gibraltar Stock Exchange
Gibraltar-based blockchain firm Valereum announced it is offloading its bitcoin mining assets to Vinanz for a 24% stake in the company. The move comes as Valereum seeks to buy and expand the Gibraltar Stock Exchange.
Valereum said the deal is conditional on Vinanz being listed on a recognized stock exchange while the final stake size is dependent on the number of funds raised from the listing. Under the terms of the deal, Valereum will not earn a seat on the Vinanz board.
“This is a strategic reorganisation to focus Valereum on the acquisition and expansion of the Gibraltar Stock Exchange and the imminent launch of our NFT (non-fungible token) program. However this also provides Valereum with a significant exposure to crypto markets through a substantial holding in a company focused solely on crypto mining and distribution.”
– Valereum said in a statement.
Valereum bought 20 bitcoin mining firms in the U.S., with a total computational processing power of 1,600 TH/s (trillion hashes per second). The blockchain firm’s wallet currently holds around 4.15 BTC.
Vinanz Sees Ongoing Crypto Winter as a Good Opportunity to Grow a BTC Business
The deal comes amid a sharp crypto market drawdown this year, with numerous cryptocurrencies plummeting to multi-year lows. Both Bitcoin and Ethereum are down about 70% from their all-time highs reached in November 2021.
The crypto winter comes as a result of a myriad of factors including the effects of the coronavirus pandemic, record-high inflation, aggressive interest rate hikes by global central banks, and the war in Ukraine. The aforementioned weighed on all capital markets and pushed investors away from risky assets like cryptocurrencies.
Valereum announced in January it plans to purchase 90% of the Gibraltar Stock Exchange in a bid to create the first stock exchange bridging stocks and cryptocurrencies. This came after Valereum’s announcement in November 2021 when it said it had signed an option to buy up to 80% of the GRX.
Vinanz Chairman David Lenigas said the company’s board sees this as a timely opportunity to grow a BTC business despite the world’s largest cryptocurrency’s price drawdown in the recent period. Bitcoin currently trades at around $23,539.60, down around 50% this year.