Bividend, now even dividends are paid in Bitcoin

On 16 March, the world’s first Bitcoin dividends, “bividends”, will be paid. The initiative comes from the listed company BTCS, based in Silver Spring, Maryland (USA), which has proposed to pay $0.05 per share in BTC to shareholders who wish to do so. Those who do not opt-in will be able to receive their dividends in traditional US dollars. 

BTCS opens dividend season paid in Bitcoin

This is reported by Reuters, which also reveals that the price of BTCS shares, listed on Nasdaq, rose by 20% after the announcement, hitting a new high in the last six weeks. 

In total, nearly 9 million shares were traded in the first few minutes of trading at the Nasdaq open at a price of about $7.8 each, more than double the company’s internal public float. 

However, the price has now fallen back to $5.7. 

The value of BTSC

BTCS has a total capitalization of about $69 million, and is the first Nasdaq-listed company to offer dividends in Bitcoin. The company is a provider of blockchain services. 

According to some analysts, however, the media hype surrounding the company after the announcement of the bividend was too much, so much so that after reaching $7.8, the price quickly dropped below $6. 

The company said it is also considering extending the cryptocurrency payment option to future dividends. 

BTCS CEO Charles Allen said: 

“We want to reward our long-time shareholders for their continued support and encourage financial freedom by providing the means to enable direct ownership of Bitcoin and other digital assets”.

It is worth noting that BTCS stock debuted on the markets in 2013 with sky-high prices for its shares. The company was founded in 2008, when Bitcoin did not yet exist, but on Nasdaq it has only been present since December 2019, when the opening price was $7.5. 

Since then, the price fell as low as $1.3, only to start rising again in December 2020 to coincide with the start of Bitcoin’s last big bull run. 

Indeed in January 2021 it briefly touched a high of $32, only to return to $8 as early as February. Over the course of 2021, the price fell back to $3 in December but recovered in January. 

It is therefore a very volatile stock, most likely correlated with the BTC price trend.