The Meitu app interface is displayed on a mobile phone in Yichang, Hubei province of central China, February 22, 2021.
Costfoto | Barcroft Media | Getty images
Meitu, a Chinese company that creates a photo editing app, has bought bitcoin and ether, becoming the latest company to buy cryptocurrencies.
The Hong Kong-listed company said on Sunday that it bought $ 22.1 million worth of ether and $ 17.9 million worth of bitcoin on March 5.
Meitu follows electric car companies Tesla and Square in the purchase of bitcoin. But the Chinese app maker appears to be the first major company to buy ether, a cryptocurrency that runs on the etheric blockchain.
Bitcoin is based on its own blockchain, the technology that underpins it.
Ethereum is a completely different network. It is an open-source blockchain that allows developers to build apps on top of it. The cryptocurrency ether can be used to pay or interact with services built on top of the ethereum network. These are often referred to as decentralized applications or dApps.
Meitu said in a statement that “blockchain technology has the potential to disrupt existing financial and technology industries, much like how mobile internet has disrupted the PC internet and many other offline industries.”
The Board believes that cryptocurrencies have ample room for appreciation and by allocating part of their treasury to cryptocurrencies it can also serve as a diversification of cash holdings (which are subject to depreciation pressures due to aggressive increases in money supply by central banks worldwide) in treasury management, ”said Meitu.
The move shows investors that Meitu “has the vision and determination to embrace technological evolution, preparing its foray into the blockchain industry,” Meitu said.
Meitu’s shares were up 3.3% at 1:44 PM Hong Kong time after climbing more than 14% earlier in the day.
Meitu noted that cryptocurrency prices are “still very volatile”.
The company said it is “evaluating the feasibility of integrating blockchain technologies into its various overseas businesses,” which may include launching ethereum-based apps or investing in other blockchain companies.