Beckham-Backed Firm Drops Bitcoin Holdings Plan, Once Raised $48M to Dive Into Crypto Assets

On December 31, nutritional supplement firm Prenetics Global—backed by soccer star David Beckham—announced it is canceling its Bitcoin (BTC) reserves and hodling plan. The move comes less than three months after the Nasdaq-listed company closed a $48 million funding round, where it explicitly outlined a strategy to build a cryptocurrency asset treasury. Prenetics said it will refocus its strategic priorities on core consumer health brand IM8, calling it the “fastest-growing nutritional supplement brand in industry history.” In a Tuesday statement, the firm added it will no longer make future Bitcoin purchases. Back in October, Prenetics completed an oversubscribed equity financing round. Proceeds were originally earmarked to accelerate Bitcoin treasury construction and expand IM8. At the time, Bitcoin traded around $114,000; as of Tuesday afternoon, the price had dropped to roughly $88,000. Investors in the round included Beckham, Kraken, Exodus, Wu Jihan’s GPTX, DL Holdings, and American Ventures, among other institutions. The company disclosed it holds over $70 million in cash and cash equivalents on its balance sheet and owns 510 Bitcoins.