Semler Scientific Added 47 Bitcoin to Holdings, Bringing Stack to 1,058 BTC

To this point, Semler is at about breakeven on its bitcoin investment.

Medical device company Semler Scientific (SMLR) disclosed a small purchase of additional bitcoin (BTC) on Monday evening alongside its third quarter earnings results.

The firm now holds 1,058 bitcoin, having purchased 47 BTC for $3 million since its most recent acquisition disclosure in late August. In total, Semler has spent $71 million on its bitcoin purchases, and those 1,058 tokens are worth about $71.4 million at bitcoin's current price of $67,500.

To this point, Semler is at about breakeven on its bitcoin investment.

“We are capitalizing on the opportunity to maximize stakeholder value by accumulating bitcoin,” said Eric Semler, chairman of Semler Scientific, in a statement. “We plan to continue to purchase bitcoin with cash from operations and with cash proceeds from our sales under our ATM program. In addition, we are exploring additional financing opportunities that will enable us to acquire even more bitcoin.”

The company's $50 million at-the-market stock sale program became effective on Aug. 13, and Semler has sold 86,734 shares to date, raising about $2.5 million.

The firm disclosed its first bitcoin purchase in March, when it bought 500 BTC for $30 million. Semler said at the time that it planned to continue buying bitcoin and might even sell its remaining medical device assets to put the proceeds into the cryptocurrency.

The company's about-face on that strategy became clear in May, when Semler announced it was pausing bitcoin purchases to focus on its core business and preserve cash.

But in August, Semler disclosed it had purchased an additional 100 BTC for about $6.5 million, and on Monday the firm said it had continued to accumulate bitcoin throughout the quarter.

“Our bitcoin strategy is working as planned,” Semler said Monday. “We have fully integrated bitcoin into our balance sheet management strategy and are continuing to capitalize on the opportunity to maximize stakeholder value.”

Disclosure: I own some of the cryptocurrency and digital assets that are covered in CoinDesk articles.