Asian video game publisher Nexon has announced the purchase of 1,717 bitcoin for approximately $100 million, according to a press release.
The average price per BTC was $58,226 including fees and other expenses, and the purchase represents less than 2 percent of the company’s total cash and equivalents on hand.
“Our purchase of bitcoin reflects a disciplined strategy for protecting shareholder value and for maintaining the purchasing power of our cash assets,” Owen Mahoney, Nexon’s CEO, said in the release. “In the current economic environment, we believe bitcoin offers long-term stability and liquidity while maintaining the value of our cash for future investments.”
With headquarters in South Korea and Japan, Nexon has published dozens of PC and mobile games, including “Final Fantasy 14” and “Counter-Strike Online.”
A Medium post penned by Mahoney offered additional insight into how the company views BTC as a hedge against the inflation of cash assets.
“With government spending and debt levels so high, even a small rise in interest rates would make paying down the debt even more difficult than it already is,” Mahoney wrote. “We are not making a prediction on the future of interest rates. We are, however, fiduciaries of our shareholder’s capital, and as such we need to think seriously about the future buying power of our cash in a world of potential currency debasement.”
Mahoney also drew parallels between the video game industry and the first-ever natively digital financial asset.
“25 years ago, the idea of an entertainment world centered around online, connected, virtual worlds seemed crazy,” he wrote. “Today the idea of a non-physical store of value (like gold, but virtual) that is also un-controlled by a central authority is considered fringe… We think there’s a strong chance this too will become a mainstream idea in the not-too-distant future.”
Nexon now joins the ranks of major companies like Tesla and MicroStrategy that hold bitcoin on their balance sheets.