Rumble Allocates Excess Cash Reserves to Bitcoin, Makes Purchases of Up to $20M in Cryptocurrency

Shares rose nearly 4% in extended trading.

Conservative video platform Rumble said Monday it will begin allocating a portion of its excess cash reserves to bitcoin, planning to make purchases of up to $20 million in the flagship cryptocurrency.

Shares of Rumble rose nearly 4% in extended trading after the announcement.

"We believe that the world is still in the early stages of the adoption of bitcoin," Rumble Chairman and CEO Chris Pavlovski said in a statement Monday. "Unlike any government-issued currency, bitcoin is not subject to dilution through endless money-printing, enabling it to be a valuable inflation hedge and an excellent addition to our treasury."

"We are also excited to strengthen our ties with crypto and to bolster our efforts to become the leading video and cloud services platform for the crypto community," he added.

The move puts Rumble in the same company as MicroStrategy (NASDAQ:MSTR), which began employing an aggressive bitcoin-buying strategy in 2020. Shares of MicroStrategy, up more than 500% in 2024, now trade as a proxy for bitcoin. Other companies that have purchased bitcoin in the past include Tesla (NASDAQ:TSLA) and Block (NYSE:SQ). Two smaller companies also made the same move this year, including Semler Scientific (NYSE:SMLR) in May and Acurx Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:ACXP) last week.

Shares of Rumble are up nearly 63% this year, and the stock has gained about 42% over the past year. The stock also rallied 42% in 2023.

Bitcoin itself, which came within shouting distance of the $100,000 milestone last week, retreated on Monday. It was last seen lower by more than 3% at around $93,000, but the flagship crypto is still expected to hit the $100,000 mark before the year is over. Bitcoin has risen by more than 100% in 2024.

With Trump's incoming administration expected to take a pro-crypto stance, investors are keeping an eye out for the next big company that will begin buying bitcoin.

MicroStrategy Chairman and bitcoin evangelist Michael Saylor said on an X Spaces event last week that he plans to pitch the board of Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) in December on his bitcoin treasury strategy.

The theme has also broadened to the government level this year, with Sen. Cynthia Lummis (R-Wyoming) proposing a national strategic bitcoin reserve.

This summer, Trump also mentioned a potential national bitcoin stockpile in an interview with Fox Business.