The Silver Spring, Maryland-based company has seen its shares more than double in value since Jan. 5, when it offered to pay $0.05 a share in bitcoin to those who opt in. Its first bitcoin dividend, or “bividend” as BTCS calls it, is scheduled for March 16.
BTCS shares soared 20% to an early trading high of $7.80 on Thursday as online buzz about its plan intensified on forums such as Reddit and stocktwits.com, which played a determining role in the frenzy of “same actions” last year.
Nearly 9 million BTCS shares changed hands in the first few minutes of trading, more than double the company’s free float of 4.2 million shares. A smaller number of floating stocks makes the stock vulnerable to sudden movements.
“This is a moment we have long anticipated since the company purchased the domain, bividend.com, in February 2015,” CEO Charles Allen said in a statement last Wednesday.
BTCS, whose last valuation was $69 million, claims to be the first Nasdaq-listed company to offer bitcoin dividends. On Friday, video game retailer GameStop jumped 22% on plans to launch a division tasked with developing a market for non-fungible tokens (NFTs).
Meanwhile, the prices of highly volatile cryptocurrencies have plummeted since hitting all-time highs late last year. Bitcoin last traded at $44,306.29 on Thursday, about 36% below its all-time high. (Reporting by Medha Singh Bengaluru; editing by Ramakrishnan M.)