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The board of Acurx Pharmaceuticals approved the purchase of up to $1 million on Wednesday Bitcoin to be held as reserve assets of the state treasury.
The company's shares were last down more than 6% after rising about 8% in premarket trading.
“As demand for Bitcoin grows, and with it its acceptance as an important and primary asset class, we expect Bitcoin to serve as a strong vault reserve for cash that is not needed over the next 12 to 18 months,” said CEO David P Luci said in a statement.
“Its limited supply and inflation-resistant characteristics provide a functional store of value,” he added. “This new treasury strategy is a financial strategy and has no impact on our overall drug development plans.”
The move takes a page from MicroStrategy's playbook. In 2020, the enterprise software company famously adopted Bitcoin as a primary treasury reserve asset, purchasing 21,454 Bitcoins at about $11,653 each just before the bull market began a few months later. MicroStrategy has since then, just this week, aggressively purchased additional Bitcoins, bringing the total to 331,200 Bitcoins. Its stock is up more than 500% by 2024.
Bitcoin adoption by corporate finance is a major but slow-growing catalyst for crypto. The cryptocurrency is trading at an all-time high and is widely expected to double by the end of 2025 as President-elect Donald Trump promises a more crypto-friendly environment for businesses.
With this regulatory overhang expected to be lifted next year, investors are looking for the next big company to start buying Bitcoin. Tesla and Block followed MicroStrategy in 2021. Another smaller company, Semler Scientific, did so this year.
At an X-Spaces event on Tuesday evening, MicroStrategy chairman and Bitcoin evangelist Michael Saylor said he plans to present his Bitcoin treasury strategy to Microsoft's board in December.
The issue has expanded to the government level this year, with Senator Cynthia Lummis proposing a national strategic Bitcoin reserve this summer. Trump also mentioned a potential national Bitcoin stockpile that same week.
The price of Bitcoin is up 122% this year.