Semler Scientific, Inc. is a company in the healthcare sector that develops, manufactures and markets innovative products and services that support the early detection and treatment of chronic diseases. The company recently announced that its board of directors has adopted bitcoin as its primary treasury reserve asset, and has purchased 581 bitcoins for an aggregate amount of $40 million.
Semler Scientific’s chairman, Eric Semler, states, “Our bitcoin treasury strategy and purchase of bitcoin underscore our belief that bitcoin is a reliable store of value and a compelling investment. Bitcoin is now a major asset class with more than $1 trillion of market value. We believe it has unique characteristics as a scarce and finite asset that can serve as a reasonable inflation hedge and safe haven amid global instability. We also believe its digital, architectural resilience makes it preferable to gold, which has a market value of approximately 10 times that of bitcoin. 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.”
In addition, Eric Semler states, “Furthermore, we are energized by the growing global acceptance and ‘institutionalization’ of bitcoin — reflected most recently by the Securities and Exchange Commission’s January 2024 approval of 11 bitcoin exchange-traded funds. These funds have reported more than $13 billion of net inflows, with investments from nearly 1,000 institutions, including global banks, pensions, endowments and registered investment advisors. It is estimated that more than 10% of all bitcoins are now held by institutions. After studying various alternatives, we decided that holding bitcoin would be the best use of our excess cash.”
Semler Scientific’s stock price (SMLR) rose $5.68 (24.36%) to $29.00 for the day. This is a clear sign investors value companies that are adopting Bitcoin into their portfolios.