MW Buying bitcoin is no longer a thing for this David Beckham-backed health company

By Tomi Kilgore

Six months - and a bitcoin selloff - after making a splash by saying it was the first healthcare company to establish a bitcoin treasury, Prenetics has abandoned the strategy

Prenetics has ditched its bitcoin-buying strategy just six months after announcing a long-term commitment to the cryptocurrency as a treasury reserve asset.

Talk about an about-face. What Prenetics Global once a called a long-term, "unprecedented commitment" to bitcoin has gone by the wayside in just six months.

The Hong Kong-based health-sciences company (PRE) on Tuesday announced what it called an update to its capital-allocation strategy, saying it had stopped buying bitcoin (BTCUSD) earlier this month and will no longer look to buy the cryptocurrency going forward.

Instead, the company said it will focus its resources and attention on growing its IM8 consumer health brand, which was co-founded by soccer icon David Beckham and counts tennis star Aryna Sabalenka as a shareholder. IM8's flagship product, Daily Ultimate Essentials, is a vitamin supplement.

"Our board and management team unanimously agreed that the most promising path to creating significant, sustainable shareholder value is to devote our undivided attention to this once-in-a-generation opportunity clearly visible in IM8," said Danny Yeung, CEO and co-founder of Prenetics.

That might come as a surprise to some investors. On June 18, the company said it had become "the first healthcare company to establish a bitcoin treasury," spending $20 million to buy 187.42 bitcoin at a price of $106,712 each.

Bitcoin is currently trading 17.3% below that price. At current prices, the initial bitcoin purchase would be valued at about $16.5 million.

Prenetics shares shed 3.2% in recent afternoon trading. They have soared 70.2% since June 18, while bitcoin has dropped 15.7%.

Six months ago, the company said its bitcoin strategy was more than just about capital allocation, calling it a "comprehensive long-term digital asset strategy" that included buying bitcoin and leveraging its bitcoin holdings.

It even added crypto-exchange veteran Andy Cheung to its board of directors. He remains one of the company's four board members.

The company said at the time that it was inspired by the "proven" bitcoin treasury reserve strategy adopted in 2020 by business analytics software company Strategy (MSTR), formerly known as MicroStrategy, and in 2024 by Japan-based financial services and real-estate company Metaplanet (MTPLF) (JP:3350).

Prenetics did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

The company said Tuesday that it currently holds 510 bitcoins and plans to maintain that holding as a treasury reserve asset. At current prices, its bitcoin holdings would be valued at about $44.9 million.

Six months ago, Prenetics said it would demonstrate "unprecedented commitment" within the healthcare sector to allocate a majority of its balance sheet to bitcoin.

On Tuesday, it said it has "committed to not allocate any existing capital or new capital for the purpose of acquiring additional bitcoin."

-Tomi Kilgore

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December 30, 2025 15:06 ET (20:06 GMT)

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