Billionaire-backed bitcoin firm OranjeBTC to begin trading at Brazilian exchange

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By Gabriel Araujo and Luciana Magalhaes

SAO PAULO (Reuters) -Brazilian cryptocurrency firm OranjeBTC is scheduled to begin trading on the local stock exchange B3 next week as it tries to challenge the dominance of fintech Meliuz, the first listed firm to have a bitcoin treasury strategy in the country.

OranjeBTC’s goal is to attract more local investors, thus expanding its treasury reserve, and teach stockholders about the bitcoin market using their own learning platform, founder and CEO Guilherme Gomes said.

Certain types of investors who may be prohibited by regulation from buying bitcoins directly can invest in the asset through publicly traded companies, Gomes said.

“Bitcoin will change financial systems as we know it, and will reshape markets,” he said. “Our main focus is bitcoin at the highest level.” 

Before arriving at the Sao Paulo stock exchange, OranjeBTC attracted the backing of some well-known international investors, including Mexican entrepreneur Ricardo Salinas, the owner of Banco Azteca, Gomes said.

Other backers include Gemini co-founders Cameron and Tyler Winklevoss, crypto brokerage FalconX, and Adam Back, a leading name in bitcoin mining. 

OranjeBTC currently owns a treasury reserve of 3,650 bitcoins, Gomes said. At current prices, that would be valued at more than $420 million. 

Instead of a traditional IPO, the company will go public in a “reverse initial public offering” by listing shares through a recently acquired education-focused subsidiary, Intergraus, that already trades on B3, Gomes said.  

(Reporting by Luciana Magalhaes and Gabriel Araujo; Editing by Sergio Non)