Crypto Journalist

Anas Hassan

Crypto Journalist

Anas Hassan

About Author

Anas is a crypto native journalist and SEO writer with over five years of writing experience covering blockchain, crypto, DeFi, and emerging tech.

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Last updated: 

September 12, 2025

Smarter Web Company is exploring acquisitions of distressed competitors to acquire their Bitcoin holdings at discount prices.

According to a Financial Times report, the UK’s largest corporate Bitcoin holder with over £200 million in crypto reserves made the revelation despite its shares plummeting 73% from their mid-June peak.

Founder Andrew Webley told the publication that “there’s one that’s very attractive, there’s one that I’ve got my sights on at the moment,“ though he declined to name the acquisition target.

The Bristol-based firm would “certainly consider” snapping up other companies for their Bitcoin at a discount, Webley explained, as some crypto treasury companies now trade below the value of their Bitcoin holdings.

Strategic Accumulation Amid Market Turbulence

Smarter Web has undergone a dramatic transformation from its origins as a website design business, pivoting heavily toward Bitcoin accumulation throughout 2025 under what the company calls “The 10 Year Plan.”

The firm currently holds 2,470 Bitcoin worth approximately £200 million, having crossed the 2,000 BTC milestone in July after purchasing 225 additional coins for £19.9 million.

This aggressive strategy has generated what the company describes as a 49,198% year-to-date Bitcoin yield, positioning Smarter Web among the top 25 global corporate Bitcoin holders despite maintaining just £500,000 in remaining treasury cash.

The company’s accumulation efforts have been financed through innovative debt structures, including the UK’s first Bitcoin-denominated convertible bond worth $21 million issued to Paris-based TOBAM in August.

Unlike traditional convertible bonds, this structure denominates the principal repayment amount in Bitcoin while keeping the conversion share price fixed at £2.05, representing a 5% premium to the stock’s closing price at the time.

Webley acknowledged the dramatic valuation swings, telling the publication that “we probably got overvalued and now we’re almost certainly undervalued,” while expressing concern for shareholders who have experienced the volatility.

Despite the share price correction, the company briefly achieved a £1 billion market capitalization over the summer and has gained approximately 150% year-to-date, outperforming all but one company in the FTSE 350.

The firm appointed Albert Soleiman, former CFO of trading group CMC Markets, as chief financial officer last week as it pursues institutional investor interest and FTSE 100 ambitions.

UK Treasury Company Wave Meets Market Skepticism

Smarter Web’s acquisition strategy emerges within a broader wave of UK-listed companies adopting Bitcoin treasury models, with at least nine firms announcing similar strategy in recent months.

These companies have followed the playbook pioneered by Saylor’s MicroStrategy, which has accumulated over 638,460 BTC and achieved a market capitalization exceeding $90 billion since first purchasing the cryptocurrency in 2020.

The UK movement includes firms ranging from AI services provider Tao Alpha, which disclosed plans to raise £100 million for Bitcoin purchases, to natural resources company Panther Metals, whose shares surged 81% after buying a single Bitcoin.

However, market analysts have raised concerns about the sustainability and strategic clarity of the crypto treasury trend as hundreds of companies worldwide race to accumulate digital assets.

Eric Benoist, tech and data research specialist at Natixis CIB, warned that “the story is starting to become less attractive to mainstream investors,” noting that “there’s still no clear end game to this strategy.”

The broader corporate Bitcoin treasury movement has seen over 325 entities accumulate 3.71 million Bitcoin collectively, as per BitcoinTreasuries data, even though some industry observers question whether the market has reached saturation.

Galaxy Digital’s Michael Novogratz had previously suggested that the market may have reached “peak treasury company issuance,” while VanEck’s Matthew Sigel warned that companies issuing shares near their Bitcoin net asset value risk creating “erosion” rather than capital formation.

If executed well, Smarter Web’s acquisition strategy could bring a new paradigm in the space, potentially allowing successful treasury companies to consolidate Bitcoin holdings from struggling competitors at favorable valuations.

The approach mirrors historical debt-financed asset acquisition strategies, where savvy investors have borrowed in depreciating currencies to purchase scarce assets during market downturns.

United Kingdom-based web design and marketing firm The Smarter Web Company has expanded its Bitcoin treasury, purchasing an additional 230.05 BTC for 17.97 million British pounds ($24.7 million) at an average price of 78,103 pounds ($107,126) per coin.

The London-listed firm now holds 773.58 BTC acquired at an average price of 78,022 pounds ($107,015), bringing its total Bitcoin (BTC) investment to over $82.6 million, according to a filing on Tuesday.

The purchase is part of Smarter Web’s “10 Year Plan,” a strategy launched in April to drive transparent growth through a Digital Assets Treasury Policy, which focuses on Bitcoin accumulation, to support “longer-term business value.”

The company said it still has approximately 38 million pounds ($52.3 million) in cash available to deploy into further Bitcoin buys.

Related: Kazakhstan plans to establish national crypto reserve

Smarter Web raises $62 million

The filing also detailed recent fundraising efforts that netted roughly 45 million pounds ($62 million) from a series of subscriptions and accelerated bookbuilds. These moves diluted existing shareholders’ stakes by 9%.

The update also disclosed current shareholdings for key directors following the fundraising, with CEO Andrew Webley and his family holding around 11.3% of the company.

Smarter Web began accepting Bitcoin as payment in 2023. “The Company believes that Bitcoin forms a core part of the future of the global financial system and as the Company explores opportunities through organic growth and corporate acquisitions,” the filing reads.

Related: Texas governor signs bill adding Bitcoin to official reserves

UK-based companies race to buy Bitcoin

Smarter Web’s recent purchase comes as UK-listed firms are piling into Bitcoin. Over the past week, at least nine small-cap companies on exchanges like Aquis have either announced Bitcoin purchases or plans to add the cryptocurrency to their treasuries.

These include AI services group Tao Alpha, which plans to raise 100 million pounds ($137 million) after unveiling a Bitcoin strategy, and Smarter Web Company, which purchased 196 Bitcoin to add to its growing holdings.

Furthermore, Panther Metals revealed it bought a single Bitcoin. Bluebird Mining Ventures secured 2 million pounds ($2.7 million) to purchase Bitcoin, while Vinanz attracted 3.58 million pounds ($5 million) in funding from investors.

Magazine: Secrets of crypto founders under 25 who are making bank

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Plus: BTC is near ATHs… so why’s everyone sad?

GM. The market slipped on a banana peel – or maybe did a cartwheel. Either way, it’s giving something. Let’s unpack it.

The UK’s forcing full user data reporting for every crypto transaction.

News drops: fixing the Bitcoin network’s spam issue, the co-founder of Blum getting arrested + more

Market flavor today

Yeah… the chart’s looking a lot less green than it did last week.

Which explains why crypto Twitter is acting like we’re back at $30K.

… Even though Bitcoin’s still this close to its all-time high of $109K. So, what the hell?

Well, that’s because it’s not crypto-native trading driving this BTC rally – it’s TradFi:

• BTC ETFs had $260.2M in inflows on Friday;

• Metaplanet bought $104.3M worth of BTC today;

• Strategy added another 7,390 BTC (worth nearly $765M) to their holdings.

Basically, not your average retail FOMO – that’s institutional money.

And trader Sykodelic says it’s a good sign, because markets like to keep people guessing.

When everyone’s bullish and loud, it usually means a correction is right around the corner. But when the vibe is confused or cautious? That’s when we’re more likely to push higher.

So, what’s next?

Here’s what Sykodelic expects before we go turbo mode:

• BTC to test support around $101K or $97.5K;

• ETH to drop to around $2,265;

• USDT dominance to climb to 4.90%, which is also where a death cross is about to form – a technical signal that means USDT is losing strength (= bullish, because it suggests traders are getting out of stablecoins and rotating back into assets like BTC and ETH).

All of these could hit at the same time, creating the perfect storm: a bit of fear and some leveraged wipeouts… right before the real breakout begins.

If all goes to plan, Sykodelic says we’ll be back at all-time highs by week’s end – or worst case, by the end of the month.

Memecoin harvest

Memecoins: making your 9-5 look like a hobby

Data as of 06:10 AM EST.

Check out these memecoins and plenty more here.

If there’s one thing tax regulators love, it’s tracking down literally anything you might own.

And yeah, crypto’s no exception.

Case in point: starting January 1, 2026, crypto companies in the UK will have to collect and report personal data for every single trade and transfer made by users.

What kind of data, you may ask? Everything.

Your full name, home address, tax ID number, what coin you used, and how much you moved – all of it gets logged.

Missing a report or submitting incorrect data could cost up to £300 (about $398) per user.

So yeah, maaaajor escalation in crypto surveillance.

Now, to be fair, this can be seen as something positive (don’t shout please, lemme explain).

More transparency means fewer scams. That’s good

Plus, strict regulations can make TradFi institutions more comfortable working with crypto companies, which could possibly open up more partnerships and services = a W in terms of legitimacy and mainstream adoption.

It’s also gonna be a good way to find out which crypto projects are actually decentralized.

But… here’s where things get messy.

Crypto’s not just about sending coins around – for a lot of people, it’s about privacy, freedom, and control over your own money.

So when every tiny transaction now has to come with your full legal identity, address, and tax info attached… It’s a direct hit to what made crypto appealing in the first place.

Users who care about privacy might move either to offshore platforms, peer-to-peer swaps, or fully non-custodial wallets where these rules don’t apply.

The result? The UK could end up regulating itself out of its own crypto market.

This brings us back to the same ole battle in crypto: compliance vs. freedom.

• On one side, you’ve got governments pushing for more oversight in the name of safety and regulation;

• On the other, you’ve got users who turned to crypto to get away from exactly that kind of surveillance.

The challenge now is finding a middle ground: one that allows crypto to integrate with the real world without losing what made it different in the first place.

Because if privacy dies out in the name of compliance, we’re not just regulating crypto – we’re undoing its entire reason for existing.

News drops

Saifedean Ammous – the guy who wrote The Bitcoin Standard – wants to help stop spam on the Bitcoin network. He said he’s willing to donate some BTC to support a dev working full-time on making spam harder and more expensive.

Hong Kong cops arrested 12 people for running a crypto-based money laundering operation. They used over 500 fake bank accounts to launder about $15M.

Vladimir Smerkis, one of the co-founders of the crypto project Blum on Telegram, has reportedly been arrested in Moscow for fraud. He’s being accused of charges that could land him in prison for anywhere from 2 to 12 years.

Ethereum co-founder Vitalik Buterin suggested a new kind of node called a “partially stateless node.” Instead of having to store all the blockchain data, these nodes would only hold the parts they actually need – which could make running a node cheaper and simpler.

ChangeNOW is one of those no-KYC crypto exchanges – but is it any good? We took it for a spin and wrote up the details.

Juicy memes