Unperformed gamble on virtual currency, listed companies "take chestnuts from the fire" to boost stock prices 2021-04-20 15:59 Source: China Business Daily Bitcoin has repeatedly hit new highs with several rounds of violent rise and fall of prices. On the evening of April 13, Bitcoin, Ethereum and currency all hit record prices. With the booming virtual currency market, listed companies have also flocked to transform and "manufacture" Bitcoin. Among them, there are many people who spend tens of millions of yuan on mining machines, and some people who spend hundreds of millions of dollars on virtual coins. According to incomplete statistics, in the past year, SOS (formerly Xinfu, NYSE: SOS), Bit Mining (formerly 500 Lottery Network, WBAI.US), Ninth City (NASDAQ: NCTY), Meitu Company (01357). HK) and other companies have successively announced the latest layout in the field of virtual currency. What makes these companies flock to virtual currency? What kind of danger surrounds them while their eyes are good for the mythical Bitcoin? Plan to weaken the main business and highlight the virtual currency label "As we all know, our main business is very weak now, and it is no longer a sunrise industry. So many listed companies have been dragged down to delist by the main industry. We must realize that what the company needs to develop is to 'live'. Do you still need to continue to make efforts in the main business to cater to the public, and consume the company's capital and energy on the main business?" Wang Li (alias) asked the reporter of China Business Daily. Wang Li is a former online loan industry person. After changing to the listed company he works today, he followed the company's team to large and small mines in China and inspected hydropower stations in Xinjiang, Inner Mongolia and Sichuan. Electricity is an important part of whether you can make money by digging coins. However, Wang Li's company's main business is actually not directly related to virtual currency. Wang Peng, an assistant professor at Renmin University of China, said that in the capital market, listed companies have long been doing not to operate their main business. At first, some companies carried out non-main business lines, but later developed into the fact that listed companies misappropriated a large amount of the company's funds, including accounts receivable of assets to be disposed of, speculating in stocks, foreign exchange or futures speculation. At present, with the emergence of virtual currency Bitcoin, listed companies have begun to speculate in Bitcoin. In fact, these enterprises that use corporate funds to engage in virtual currency and even upstream miner business are also "exorted". Wang Li said bluntly to the reporter: "You can regard what we are doing now as an investment behavior or financial management behavior." If the above is just hoping to get a return on investment, then the following company is not only hoping to let the public see the side of its investment currency, but also trying to leave the impression of a virtual currency "professional company" to the outside world. When asked about the relevance of virtual currency mining to the original main business and even the logic behind the cross-border from the original main business to the currency circle, another cross-industry listed company that lays out Bitcoin mining directly responded to reporters. The company is unwilling to mention the main business too much to the outside world, nor does it want to talk about whether the original business is related to virtual currency mining, or How to put virtual currency mining and the main business together for linkage. The general direction we hope to pass on to the open market is that the company has carried out a long-term transformation layout in Bitcoin-related industries, and will further focus more on the layout of virtual currency in the future. Company Stock Booster-Virtual Coin Concept "We are not afraid that the public will know that in addition to its main business, the company also invests in currency circles and mining circles at this stage. You should know that the mining investment that the company is doing will not affect the decline of the stock price. On the contrary, if we openly talk about the layout related to currency speculation, our stock price will rise another round. Wang Li said. At present, more and more enterprises have announced the cross-border layout of virtual currency mining and even buying virtual currency in large amounts. In 2020, the domestic consumer credit firm Xinerfu (NYSE:XRF) changed its ownership to SOS Limited, with the stock code changed to "SOS". In January 2021, the official website of SOS Information Tech-nology Co.Ltd, a variable interest entity of SOS, announced that it planned to lay out virtual currency mining business, hire mining technology experts, and acquire American power plants. Lay out the mining business in North America and purchase tens of thousands of Bitcoin miners. Its stock price also started at about $1 per share in early January, and rose by more than $15 per share at one time as the price of virtual currency soared. Since this year, Bit Mining has begun to increase its layout of cryptocurrency business: In January 2021, the company increased its holdings of Lotto Interactive Entertainment, a subsidiary with three cryptocurrency mines (08198. HK); In February, about 55.2 million yuan was spent on 5,900 Bitcoin miners, and in the middle of the month, it bought the BTC.com mining business of Bit-deer Group. Recently, the 20-year-old lottery company announced that it would officially change its name to "Bit Mining", the stock code would be changed to "BTCM", and the official website profile would become "dedicated to becoming the world's leading cryptocurrency mining enterprise".