French version of MicroStrategy? The Blockchain Group boldly aims to raise 10 billion euros to establish a Bitcoin treasury

Author: Weilin, PANews

There is an old saying in China, "The bolder the person, the greater the yield from the land." The French listed company The Blockchain Group, which holds only $160 million in Bitcoin, claims it aims to raise over 10 billion euros to purchase Bitcoin.

On June 11, The Blockchain Group (stock code: ALTBG), a technology company based in Puteaux, France, and listed on the Euronext Paris, announced that it had convened an ordinary and extraordinary general meeting of shareholders. The main purpose of the meeting was to enhance the company's financing capacity by over 10 billion euros to accelerate its "Bitcoin treasury company" strategy, aiming to increase the amount of Bitcoin per share on a fully diluted basis.

As early as December 2024, the company secured financing of 2.5 million euros, attracting the participation of Adam Back, a British cryptographer and crypto hacker mentioned in the Bitcoin white paper.

The strategy of The Blockchain Group (TBG) aims to establish "insurance" against currency devaluation, based on a simple principle: increasing the amount of Bitcoin per share. To achieve this goal, two core strategies are followed: first, financing operations will be issued at a premium based on the stock price. The recent financing premium ranged from 30% to 70%, creating a "value-added effect" intended to enhance the interests of existing shareholders. Second, a long-term perspective is adopted, measuring performance in Bitcoin rather than in euros or dollars. Will The Blockchain Group's strategy, modeled after MicroStrategy, succeed?

Shareholders approve 10 billion euro Bitcoin treasury plan

Recently, The Blockchain Group held a shareholders' meeting and officially approved the Bitcoin treasury plan.

The meeting also approved the proposal to appoint Alexandre Laizet as a director of the company, effective today, with a term of six years, expiring at the end of the next annual general meeting that reviews the financial statements for the fiscal year ending December 31, 2030. Alexandre Laizet, the Deputy CEO, will serve as the head of Bitcoin strategy.

The approved financing amount far exceeds the 300 million euros announced by the company on June 9 under the at-the-market (ATM) issuance mechanism. This mechanism was established in collaboration with asset management company TOBAM, allowing the company to issue new shares in batches at market prices at its discretion, fully subscribed by TOBAM. If this mechanism is fully executed, TOBAM could acquire up to 39% of the company.

The approved financing instruments include common stock, preferred stock, warrants, and convertible bonds, allowing the company's finance team to match financing costs with capital allocation based on market demand. The management team stated that the proceeds from this financing authorization will continue to be invested in similar Bitcoin acquisitions, positioning The Blockchain Group as Europe's most active publicly listed Bitcoin buyer.

Executives indicated that the company views Bitcoin allocation as an auxiliary use of idle capital, rather than completely shifting its business model to a "single asset."

Years of unprofitability before transformation, currently holding $160 million in BTC

On June 3 of this year, The Blockchain Group began further large-scale acquisitions of BTC, purchasing 624 BTC valued at approximately $69 million. Including previous purchases, as of June 12, according to data from bitcointreasuries, the company holds a total of 1,471 Bitcoins, with a total value of $160 million, and an average holding cost of $102,507 per BTC, showing a paper profit of 5.21%.

It has not always been a Bitcoin-centric company. In fact, until the end of 2023, TBG was a diversified blockchain technology company with businesses covering media, consulting, and software services.

In October 2021, TBG opened its first office in North America and a blockchain research center in Montreal. In February 2022, TBG's blockchain agency The Blockchain Xdev partnered with the NFT market Artrade to accelerate the latter's technology development and promote innovation in the NFT social ecosystem. On June 1, 2023, its subsidiary Eniblock announced the launch of a Wallet as a Service (WaaS) beta version. From June 2023 to October 2024, TBG remained relatively silent on Twitter, not posting any updates. Over the years, The Blockchain Group's performance has been mixed, with profitability remaining elusive.

Everything changed in December 2023. At that time, the company established a new board of directors, and outdated subsidiaries were divested or liquidated. A more streamlined and focused new entity emerged, centered around two profitable operating companies— Iorga (custom websites and blockchain solutions) and Trimane (data intelligence and AI consulting). In November 2024, TBG became the first Bitcoin treasury company in Europe, officially adopting a long-term strategy focused on accumulating Bitcoin and optimizing the amount of Bitcoin per share, viewing Bitcoin as core operating capital in a digital scarcity economy rather than a speculative asset.

Subsequently, TBG made multiple Bitcoin purchases:

• In November 2024, it issued 1 million euros in stock at a 70% premium to purchase approximately 15 Bitcoins.
• In December 2024, it raised 2.5 million euros, attracting participation from Adam Back and TOBAM, purchasing approximately 25 Bitcoins.
• In March 2025, it issued convertible bonds worth 48.6 million euros, denominated in Bitcoin, to purchase 580 Bitcoins, bringing the total number of Bitcoins held by the company to 620.
• During the same period, the stock price increased by a cumulative 474%.

Behind this bold strategy is the support of a series of cryptocurrency investors: Adam Back, the CEO of Blockstream and a figure mentioned in the Bitcoin white paper, personally participated in TBG's December financing. Crypto institutions such as Fulgur Ventures, UTXO Management, and TOBAM also joined the shareholder ranks.

TBG has also outlined an ambitious blueprint for the next eight years:

• By 2029, the goal is to hold between 21,000 and 42,000 Bitcoins.
• By 2033, the target will grow to between 170,000 and 260,000 Bitcoins, approximately 1% of Bitcoin's fixed supply.
• Throughout this process, not a single satoshi (the smallest unit of Bitcoin) will be sold.

To support this growth, the company plans to expand its capital raising scale from this year's 300 million euros to over 100 billion euros in the early 2030s. If the price of Bitcoin reaches between 1 million and 2 million euros (predicted value), TBG's net asset value will reach between 210 billion and 420 billion euros, potentially ranking it among the most valuable publicly listed companies in Europe.

Bitcoin chief is a former CAC 40 consulting advisor, has been focused on Bitcoin for five years

Alexandre Laizet is the head of The Blockchain Group's Bitcoin treasury strategy. Although he is not as high-profile as Strategy CEO Michael Saylor, this former consulting advisor has served numerous CAC 40 companies and financial institutions. For the past five years, his entire focus has been on Bitcoin.

In a recent media interview, he stated that if the U.S. government implements the BTC accumulation plan advocated by Senator Cynthia Lummis, everything will undergo a fundamental change. We may enter a state of "escape velocity," similar to celestial bodies breaking free from orbit under strong gravitational forces. Bitcoin is currently in its own cyclical orbit, including price and valuation levels. When it breaks orbit, the following phenomena may occur:

• Market capitalization reaches gold-level, approximately $20 trillion;
• Each Bitcoin price reaches at least $1 million;
• The Bitcoin cycle will be completely rewritten: volatility or duration will undergo a qualitative change.

He stated that if the U.S. begins to regularly purchase Bitcoin, we will see a critical turning point. When global Bitcoin adoption reaches 15% to 20%, it will trigger a critical point for mainstream adoption. The year 2025 will be the year banks "rush into Bitcoin." Subsequently, bank customers will also flock in.

He also added that the U.S. has already begun the race, and Europe will follow closely. Spain's second-largest bank, BBVA, has received regulatory approval to launch Bitcoin and Ethereum trading and custody services in its home market. While this may come as a surprise to some, BBVA launched similar services in Switzerland back in 2021 and expanded to Turkey in 2023.

Additionally, other European banks are also in preparation, although the commercial rollout is slower, they are basically in place: Société Générale's SG Forge, BPCE Group, Crédit Agricole, etc. It is expected that several of France's largest banks will make a high-profile entry into the Bitcoin space by the end of 2025 or early 2026.

"This is not surprising; we have reached a critical turning point. This is Bitcoin's iPhone moment—a dimensional shift we have foreseen and are experiencing for years… Ultimately, wealth will be denominated in Bitcoin. Bitcoin is the ultimate safe-haven asset. Capital will always flow to the optimal value storage tool. Due to Bitcoin's absolute scarcity and global accessibility, it will eventually absorb most capital," Alexandre Laizet emphasized.

He also pointed out that "currently, the best strategy for listed companies is to purchase Bitcoin through regulated institutional service providers. This is exactly what we are doing: we are purchasing BTC through Delubac & Cie bank in France and the Swissquote platform in Luxembourg. So how should companies join the new economy? Like everyone else, buy Bitcoin."

So, what percentage of funds should companies allocate to Bitcoin? He stated that the vast majority of companies make the same mistake: they only invest a small amount of cash in Bitcoin, keeping the rest in fiat currency. The reasoning is that this is "insurance" against currency devaluation, so they typically only invest about 2%. Our model is based on a simple principle: increase the amount of Bitcoin per share. To achieve this goal, we follow two core strategies: first, TBG's financing operations will issue at a premium based on the stock price. The recent financing premium ranged from 30% to 70%, thus creating a "value-added effect" that directly enhances the interests of existing shareholders. For example, the financing premium for TBG's Bitcoin purchase last November was as high as 70%, and 40% in December.

Second, TBG adopts a long-term perspective, measuring performance in Bitcoin rather than in euros or dollars.

Overall, as one of the few publicly listed companies in Europe that considers Bitcoin as a core financial strategy, The Blockchain Group is actively promoting its positioning as a "Bitcoin treasury company" through equity financing and financial restructuring. Although market performance and regulatory environments remain uncertain, The Blockchain Group has clarified its development path and attracted the attention of some industry investors. Whether it can fulfill its growth targets remains to be seen.